THE 



Two Great Retreats of History. 



I. THE RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND. 
II. NAPOLEON'S RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. - 






WITH INTRODUCTIONS AND NOTES 



/ 



r 



^'f/ 



D. H. M. 



■"'•■■"/■ 



o>»:c 



BOSTON, U.S.A.: 

PUBLISHED BY GINN & COMPANY 

1889. 




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 18S9, by 

GINN & COMPANY, 
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



All Rights Reserved. 



Typography by J. S. Gushing & Co., Boston, U.S.A. 
Presswork by Ginn & Co., Boston, U.S.A. 



PREFATORY NOTE. 



The two following selections contain, first, Grote's account of 
the Retreat of the Ten Thousand Greeks, taken from his " History 
of Greece," and, secondly, an abridgment of Count S^gur's narra- 
tive of Napoleon's retreat from Russia. 

Grote's History, based on Xenophon's, is given entire, with the 
exception that, in a very few instances, some slight verbal change 
has been made in order to better adapt the work to school use. 

Two maps are furnished, an introduction is prefixed to each 

selection, and all needed notes subjoined. 

D. H. M. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



I. Retreat of the Ten Thousand. 



PAGE 



Sketch of Cyrus the Younger (Introductory to the Retreat of the 

Ten Thousand) v 

§ I. Effect of the death of Cyrus on the Greeks ; they resolve to 

retreat ,. i 

§ 2. Commencement of the retreat 6 

§ 3. Negotiations with Tissaphernes 10 

§ 4. Treachery of Tissaphernes 19 

§ 5. Xenophon's dream and its results 29 

§ 6. The Greeks cross the Zab 42 

§ 7. The Greeks fight their way across the Karduchian Mountains 50 
§ 8. March through Armenia; great suffering from cold and 

hunger 60 

§ 9. The Greeks come in sight of the Black Sea 70 

§ 10. The Greek cities on the Black Sea; their feelings toward 

the Ten Thousand 75 

§11. Plans of the army for the future 79 

§ 12. The Ten Thousand begin their march westward .... 82 

§13. Plan of Xenophon for founding a city on the Black Sea . 88 

§ 14. Xenophon defends himself against false accusations ... 95 

§15. The army passes by sea to Sinope 104 

§ 16. The army crosses the Bosphorus to Byzantium ; false prom- 
ises of Anaxibius and their results 116 

§17. Mutiny of the army in leaving Byzantium 120 

§ 18. Xenophon's speech to the soldiers 123 

§ 19. The army finally leaves Byzantium ; Seuthes offers to hire 

them . 128 

§ 20. The army enters the service of Seuthes 135 

§21. Xenophon crosses over with the army to Asia 138 

§22. Xenophon takes leave of the army. Conclusion .... 143 



VI TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



II. Napoleon's Retreat from Moscow. 

PAGE 

Sketch of Napoleon (Introductory to the Retreat from Moscow) . 152 

§ I. Description of Moscow; arrival of the Czar 157 

§ 2. Alarm in Moscow at the advance of the French army ; prep- 
arations for the destruction of the city 162 

§ 3. Departure of the Russian governor from Moscow . . . . 168 

§ 4. Napoleon^s first view of Moscow; the French enter the city 175 
§ 5. Napoleon takes up his quarters in the Kremlin ; the city 

discovered to be on fire 182 

§ 6. The fire compels Napoleon to leave the city 190 

§ 7. Napoleon returns to the Kremlin ; plunder of the city . . 195 
§ 8. Rostopchin sets fire to his country-seat ; anxiety of Napo- 
leon at not hearing from the Czar 201 

§ 9. Napoleon determines to leave Moscow 215 

§ 10. Departure from Moscow ; the first battle 224 

§ II. Napoleon holds a council of war, and decides to retreat 

northward 233 

§ 12. Napoleon's attempt to destroy the Kremhn ; view of the 

battle-field of Borodino 238 

§ 13. Napoleon reaches Viazma ; battle near that place . . . 243 
§ 14. Dreadful snow-storm on the 6th of November; its effect 

upon the troops 247 

§ 15. Defeat and entire dissolution of Prince Eugene's corps at 

the passage of the Wop 253 

§ 16. The Grand Army reaches Smolensk 257 

§17. Napoleon leaves Smolensk ; battle of Krasnoe 263 

§ 18. Napoleon reaches Dombrowna and Orcha; he holds a 

council 267 

§ 19. Arrival of Marshal Ney 272 

§ 20. Capture of Minsk by the Russians 277 

§ 21. March through the forest of Minsk ; passage of the Berezina 280 

§ 22. Napoleon abandons the Grand Army, and sets out for Paris 291 
§ 23. Sufferings of the Grand Army after Napoleon's departure ; 

arrival at Wilna 298 

§ 24. Conclusion 3°^ 

Index to notes and list of proper names with their pronunciation 316 



MAPS. 



PAGE 

1. The advance and the retreat of the Ten Thousand, facing . . i 

2. The advance and the retreat of Napoleon in his Russian 

campaign, facing i 



SKETCH OF CYRUS THE YOUNGER. 

(Introductory to the Retreat of the Ten Thousand Greeks.) 

In the year 423 b.c. Darius Nothus ascended the throne of 
Persia. That country was then the greatest empire in the world, 
and had an area nearly equal to that of the United States. The 
capital of this seemingly powerful realm was the ancient city of 
Babylon on the lower Euphrates. Here the Great King, as he 
was styled, had his principal palace, from which he issued orders 
to his twenty or more satraps or governors whose provinces ex- 
tended in name at least from the shores of the Mediterranean to the 
banks of the Indus, and from the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea. 

Darius had married his half-sister Parysatis, a high-spirited but 
unscrupulous woman, by whom he had two sons, destined to be 
known in history. The eldest was Artaxerxes, a youth of but 
little character ; and the second, Cyrus, who inherited the decided 
qualities of his mother. In order to distinguish him from Cyrus 
the Great, the founder of the Persian Empire, who died more 
than a hundred years earlier, he is commonly called Cyrus the 
Younger. 

He was his mother's favorite, and as he was bom after Darius 
assumed the crown, while Artaxerxes was born before that date, 
Parysatis seems to have encouraged Cyrus to consider himself the 
true heir to the throne, since he was in fact the king's eldest 
son. Through her influence he was appointed satrap of Lydia 
and the adjacent provinces of western Asia Minor when he was 
but sixteen. This position, since it made him the military ruler 
of that populous and wealthy section of country, was one of great 
importance, and doubtless had no small influence in shaping the 
young man's future career. 



X SKETCH OF CYRUS THE YOUNGER. 

In 404 Cyrus was summoned from Sardis, the capital of Lydia, 
to Babylon, and shortly after, his father died, leaving his crown to 
Artaxerxes, who, from his remarkable memory which appears to 
have been his chief characteristic, got the title of Artaxerxes 
Mnemon. But Cyrus certainly was not deficient in this mental 
quality, for he seems to have remembered his mother's suggestions 
about his being the rightful heir to the throne so well, that at the 
coronation of Artaxerxes he plotted his assassination ; or at least, 
Tissaphernes, a neighboring satrap,^ accused him of it. Cyrus, who 
appears to have had no adequate defence to make, was forthwith 
arrested and would probably have been summarily put to death — 
for in Persia the law's delays were unknown — had not Parysatis 
interfered. Reahzing her son's imminent peril, she rushed forward 
and, clasping him in her arms, wound her long flowing hair about 
him, and pressed his neck to hers in such a way that the execu- 
tioner must have beheaded her with the same stroke with which 
he decapitated Cyrus. 

The prayers and entreaties of Parysatis saved the young man's 
life, and he was even permitted to return to Sardis and resume 
his power. He went ; but with no intention of remaining in that 
subordinate position. Not only was he resolved to be revenged 
on Tissaphernes, but he was equally determined to overthrow the 
mild Artaxerxes and convince him of the mistake of yielding to 
a woman's tears. 

Cyrus had learned from his residence on the Mediterranean 
coast, how far superior Greek soldiers were to the troops of Persia. 
The former would not only fight from patriotic motives, but what 
was more, they would readily fight outside of Greece, if they were 
paid well for it ; the latter would only fight when they were flogged 
to it, and officers had to carry whips to drive them into battle 
by the sting of the lash. 

Under the pretext that he was about to engage in a local 

1 Tissaphernes was a satrap of Caria, a province of Asia Minor south of 
Lydia. 



SKETCH OF CYRUS THE YOUNGER. xi 

and private war with his enemy Tissaphernes, Cyrus managed to 
gradually collect an army of about ten thousand Greeks whom 
Klearchus, an ex-governor of Byzantium, hired for him. These ten 
thousand were the real core of the expedition, though in addition 
a hundred thousand Asiatics were to form the bulk of it. With 
this force the young satrap believed that he could take Babylon, 
and with it that title of Great King which he coveted. It was 
true that Artaxerxes would meet him with an army of ten men to 
his one; but, as Cyrus said, mere "numbers and noise " did not 
tell on the battle-field, and " numbers and noise " were all that 
the Persian sovereign had to rely on. 

When all was ready, Cyrus set out from Sardis on his memorable 
march in the spring of 401. Among the Greeks was a volunteer 
named Xenophon, who had been persuaded to go by his friend 
Proxenus, a general in the army of Cyrus. Xenophon, as we 
shall see, eventually saved his countrymen from destruction, and 
became not only the leader, but the historian of the expedition. 

With the exception of Klearchus, none of the army seem to 
have known the real object of the campaign, but supposed that 
Cyrus was going to attack the Pisidians, robber tribes that inhab- 
ited the mountainous country southeast of Sardis. Artaxerxes 
appears to have been equally in the dark, and though he knew 
C3t:us was advancing in the direction of Babylon, he thought that 
his ultimate purpose was to make war on Tissaphernes, and so 
gave himself no more trouble about the matter. 

All went well with Cyrus and his Greek mercenaries until they 
reached that city of Tarsus in Cilicia, which was later to become 
famous as the birthplace of the apostle Paul. When they reached 
that place, Xenophon's countrymen saw that they had been de- 
ceived, and that Cyrus evidently had some greater foe in view 
than the rough banditti of the Pisidian highlands. At first they 
were on the point of mutinying, and of stoning Klearchus to 
give proper emphasis to their feelings ; but sober second thought 
showed them that it was doubtful whether they would gain any- 



xii SKETCH OF CYRUS THE YOUNGER. 

thing by such a course. Klearchus, who was quite equal to the 
emergency, bade them reflect that they were now a long distance 
from home, and that Cyrus had it in his power to make it difficult 
for them to get back without his permission. Next, they were 
promised a decided increase of pay if they would keep on. These 
considerations so influenced the Greeks that they finally resolved 
to continue their march and take the chances of war. Cyrus still 
refused to divulge his real purpose; and though there cannot be 
much doubt that the Ten Thousand felt pretty reasonably certain 
what it was, yet they probably believed he had chances enough of 
success to make it worth their while to run the risk with him. 

Accordingly the army resumed their forAvard movement, follow- 
ing the trend of the coast round the Gulf of Issus, and then 
striking southeasterly again, until some time in the summer they 
reached and crossed the Euphrates at Thapsacus. From that 
point they marched down the left bank of the river, through the 
hilly desert of Arabia, toward the great city of Babylon. Early 
in September they reached a point on the Tigris, nearly opposite 
Bagdad, and about two days' march from Kunaxa, a place not very 
far northwest of the Persian capital. 

Up to this time Cyrus had met with no opposition, though he 
was daily expecting to see the advance-guard of his brother's 
army. Before going further he thought it* prudent to hold a 
grand review of his troops, which he did at midnight, as it was 
now reported that Artaxerxes, with an army of over a milHon, 
was coming to give him battle. 

But the million did not make their appearance, and so Cyrus 
decided to keep on until he should encounter them. The next 
day the invading army reached a trench which had evidently been 
recently dug to obstruct their advance. It stretched across the 
plain between the Euphrates and the Tigris, in connection with 
the ruins of the old Median Wall, built probably in the days of 
Nebuchadnezzar as one of the defences of Babylon. This trench 
was eighteen feet deep, thirty feet wide, and upwards of forty 



SKETCH OF CYRUS THE YOUNGER. xiii 

miles in length ; it stopped short of the Euphrates Ijy only twenty 
feet. Over that narrow strip of ground, which the Persian king 
might easily have held with a small number of resolute men, the 
Cyreian forces passed, with no one to hinder them. The great 
trench, on which so much labor had been expended, was, there- 
fore, not only useless as a defence to Artaxerxes, but it was a 
positive encouragement to Cyrus and his men, for it revealed the 
inefficiency and the cowardice of the Persians. The whole army 
now moved rapidly forward, confident of an easy victory, many 
even supposing that Artaxerxes would make no stand at all, but 
abandon his capital to them. The Great King, however, was not 
so hopelessly pusillanimous as that ; for, when Cyrus reached 
Kunaxa, scouts brought word that the enemy's hosts were not far 
behind. This time the intelligence was correct. That very after- 
noon a great cloud of white dust rolled up from the plain, and as 
it kept advancing the invaders caught sight of the flash of brazen 
armor and a forest of spears. 

When all was ready for the battle to begin, the Greeks, not 
waiting to be attacked, charged on the run against the Persian left 
wing. The Persians, who seem to have thought that on such an 
occasion absence of body was a good deal better than presence 
of mind, waited just long enough to hear the Greeks give a fierce 
shout to Mars, accompanied by a significant clatter of spears and 
shields. That satisfied them, and, turning like a flock of frightened 
sheep, they ran for their fives. 

Cyrus, who had refused to put on a helmet, now dashed into the 
fight with uncovered head, making straight for King Artaxerxes, 
who occupied the centre of his army. " I see the man ! " he 
cried, and, hurling his lance, he struck and slightly wounded the 
Great King ; but that fratricidal blow was the last, for just then a 
javelin pierced Cyrus under the eye, and he fell from his horse 
and was slain. His head and right hand were then cut off to serve 
as a warning to traitors. The native or Asiatic troops, seeing the 
disaster, fled, and did not stop till they had reached a former 
camp eight miles away. 



xiv SKETCH OF CYRUS THE YOUNGER. 

Meanwhile the victorious Ten Thousand^ knowing nothing of 
what had happened to Cyrus, pursued the Persians as long as light 
lasted ; then when the sun had set they returned to find that their 
camp had been plundered by the enemy, and that they must go 
to bed supperless. It was not until sunrise of the next day 
that they learned that Cyrus was dead ; that their companions in 
arms had fled ; and that they were left a mere handful of men with- 
out a leader, and without provisions, in the heart of the enemy's 
country. 

How to retreat from such a position was the supreme question. 
They could not return the way they came, for that road led them 
through the desert, where it would be impossible to get food. If 
they were to get back alive they must take the northern route to the 
shores of the Black Sea. This would lead them through a fertile 
but rough country, in which they would have to find their way as 
best they could across rivers and over mountains, harassed by the 
Persians in the rear, and encountering savage tribes who would dis- 
pute their progress. At the shortest such a march would be about 
six hundred miles even in an air line, with prospect of something 
like six hundred more before they reached the Mediterranean. 

After many delays, this latter course was the one they finally 
resolved to take, and owing to Xenophon's courage and resolu- 
tion it turned out successfully. 

After eight months of wandering, hardships, and peril, they all 
came in sight of the Euxine, and perhaps no shipwrecked sailors 
clinging to a raft ever cried " Land ! " " Land !" with more joy 
than those Greeks who had chmbed a hill-top shouted "The Sea ! " 
"The Sea!" 

Thanks to their own bravery, to their able leader, and finally to 
Persian vacillation and cowardice, this little army had now reached 
a place of safety. It was long, however, before they got back to 
their native country, and when they did, they were not to arrive at 
its shores asleep, on shipboard, as the much wandering and storm- 
tossed Ulysses came to his beloved Ithaca. 



SKETCH OF CYRUS THE YOUNGER. XV 

It is doubtful, indeed, how many of them ever got back to their 
Spartan or Athenian homes, for we know that most of them 
could not make up their minds to live quiet lives of peace again ; 
but preferred fighting in behalf of the independence of the Ionian 
cities which Greece had planted on the coast of Asia Minor. 

Such was the Retreat of the Ten Thousand. If we may accept 
the judgment of Rollin, a once noted historian, it has never had a 
parallel in history. If we consider its results, it certainly merits 
all that Rollin claims for it, for it convinced the Greek people that 
the apparent power of the Persian empire was utterly unreal. They 
saw that, as Cyrus had said, its only strength was in " numbers and 
noise." This conviction grew, and two generations after Xeno- 
phon's return, it led to that grand invasion of Persia by Alexander 
the Great which was to revolutionize the ancient world. 

What, then, had the retreat of the Greeks accomplished ? First, 
it proved that ten thousand men not afraid to die are worth more 
than a million who lack that courage ; and next, though it was a 
retreat, yet it suggested that advance which eventually spread the 
Greek language, Greek culture and Greek civilization in countries 
where they were before unknown. 

D. H. M. 



MARCH OF THE T] 

FOR XENOP 




HOUSAND GREEKS. 



ANABASIS. 





Longitude West 



Longitude East 



RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 



oXKo 



f^. 



§ 1. Effect of the death of Cyrus on the Greeks ; they resolve 

to retreat. 

The first triumphant feeling of the Greek troops at 
Kunaxa^ was exchanged, as soon as they learnt the death 
of Cyrus, for dismay and sorrow ; accompanied by unavail- 
ing repentance for the venture into which he and Klear- 
chus had seduced them. Probably Klearchus himself too 
repented, and with good reason, of having displayed, in his 
manner of fighting the battle, so little foresight, and so 
little regard either to the injunctions or to the safety of 
Cyrus. Nevertheless he still maintained the tone of a 
victor in the field, and after expressions of grief for the 
fate of the young prince, desired Prokles and Glus to 
return to Ariaeus, with the reply, that the Greeks on their 
side were conquerors without any enemy remaining ; that 
they were about to march onward against Artaxerxes ; and 
that if Ariaeus would join them, they would place him on 
the throne which had been intended for Cyrus, While 
this reply was conveyed to Ariasus by his particular friend 
Menon along with the messengers, the Greeks procured a 
meal as well as they could, having no bread, by killing- 
some of the baggage animals ; and by kindling fire to cook 
their meat, from the arrows, the wooden Egyptian shields 
which had been thrown away on the field, and the baggage 
carts. 

1 Kunaxa : see Introduction. 



2 RETREAT OF THE 

Before any answer could be received from Ariaeus, her- 
alds 1 appeared coming from Artaxerxes ; among them 
being Phalinus, a Greek from Zakynthus, and the Greek 
surgeon Ktesias of Knidus, who was in the service of the 
Persian king. Phalinus, an officer of some military expe- 
rience andln the confidence of Tissaphernes, addressed 
himself to the Greek commanders ; requiring them on the 
part of the King, since he was now victor and had slain 
Cyrus, to surrender their arms and appeal to his mercy. 
To this summons, painful in the extreme to a Grecian ear, 
Klearchus replied that it was not the practice for victori- 
ous men to lay down their arms. Being then called away 
to examine the sacrifice^ which was going on, he left the 
interview to the other officers, who met the summons of 
Phalinus by an emphatic negative. " If the King thinks 
himself strong enough to ask for our arms unconditionally, 
let him come and try to seize them." — " The King (rejoined 
Phalinus) thinks that you are in his power, being in the 
midst of his territory, hemmed in by impassable rivers, and 
encompassed by his innumerable subjects." — " Our arms 
and our valor are all that remain to us (replied a young 
Athenian) ; we shall not be fools enough to hand over to 
you our only remaining treasures, but shall employ them 
still to have a fight iox your treasure." But though several 
spoke in this resolute tone, there were not wanting others 

1 Heralds : officers who proclaimed war or peace, challenged to battle, and 
were bearers of messages from the commander-in-chief or king ; here, mes- 
sengers. 

2 Sacrifice : it was the custom of the Greeks to examine the entrails of the 
animals they sacrificed, in order that from their appearance they might learn 
the will of the gods; and next, that they might gain a knowledge of coming 
events. 

In all important undertakings these signs were carefully consulted before 
any decisive action was taken. ^ 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 3 

disposed to encourage a negotiation ; saying that they had 
been faithful to Cyrus as long as he lived, and would now 
be faithful to Artaxerxes, if he wanted their services in 
Egypt or anywhere else. In the midst of this parley 
Klearchus returned, and was requested by Phalinus to 
return- a final answer on behalf of all. He at first asked 
the advice of Phalinus himself; appealing to the common 
feeling of Hellenic ^ patriotism, and anticipating, with very 
little judgment, that the latter would encourage the Greeks 
in holding out. " If (replied Phalinus) I saw one chance 
out of ten thousand in your favor, in the event of a contest 
with the King, I should advise you to refuse the surrender 
of your arms. But as there is no chance of safety for you 
against the King's consent, I recommend you to look out 
for safety in the only quarter where it presents itself." 
Sensible of the mistake which he had made in asking the 
question, Klearchus rejoined — "That is your opinion: 
now report our answer. We think we shall be better 
friends to the King, if we are to be his friends, — or more 
effective enemies, if we are to be his enemies, — with our 
arms, than without them." Phalinus, in retiring, said that 
the King proclaimed a truce so long as they remained in 
their present position — but war, if they moved, either 
onward or backward. And to this Klearchus acceded, 
without declaring which he intended to do. 

Shortly after the departure of Phalinus, the envoys 
despatched to Ariasus returned ; communicating his reply 
that the Persian grandees would never tolerate any preten- 
sions on his part to the crown, and that he intended to 
depart early the next morning on his return ; if the Greeks 
wished to accompany him, they must join him during the 

^ Hellenic: pertaining to the Hellenes, or Greeks; Grecian. 



4 RETREAT OF THE 

night. In the evening, Klearchus, convening the generals 
and the captains, acquainted them that the morning sacri- 
fice had been of a nature to forbid their marching against 
the King — a prohibition, of which he now understood the 
reason, from having since learnt that the King was on the 
other side of the Tigris, and therefore out of their reach — 
but that it was favorable for rejoining Ariseus. He gave 
directions accordingly for a night-march back along the 
Euphrates, to the station where they had passed the last 
night but one prior to the battle. The other Grecian gen- 
erals, without any formal choice of Klearchus as chief, 
tacitly acquiesced in his orders, from a sense of his supe- 
rior decision and experience, in an emergency when no one 
knew what to propose. The night-march was successfully 
accomplished, so that they joined Ariaeus at the preceding 
station about midnight ; not without the alarming symptom, 
however, that Miltokythes the Thracian deserted to the 
King at the head of 340 of his countrymen, partly horse, 
partly foot. 

The first proceeding of the Grecian generals was to 
exchange solemn oaths of reciprocal fidelity and fraternity 
with Ariaeus. According to an ancient and impressive 
practice, a bull, a wolf, a boar, and a ram, were all slain, 
and their blood allowed to run into the hollow of a shield ; 
in which the Greek generals dipped a sword, and Ariaeus, 
with his chief companions, a spear. The latter, besides 
the promise of alliance, engaged also to guide the Greeks 
in good faith down to the Asiatic coast. Klearchus imme- 
diately began to ask what route he proposed to take ; 
whether to return by that along which they had come up, 
or by any other. To this Ariaeus replied, that the road 
along which they had marched was impracticable for 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 5 

retreat, from the utter want of provisions through seven- 
teen clays of desert ; but that he intended to choose another 
road, which, though longer, would be sufficiently productive 
to furnish them with provisions. There was, however, a 
necessity (he added), that the first two or three days' 
marches should be of extreme length, in order that they 
might get out of the reach of the king's forces, who would 
hardly be able to overtake them afterwards with any con- 
siderable numbers. 

"^ They had now come 93 days' march from Ephesus, 
or 90 from Sardis. The distance from Sardis to Kunaxa is 
1464 miles. There had been at least 96 days of rest, 
enjoyed at various places, so that the total of time elapsed 
must have at least been 189 days, or a little more than 
half a year : but it was probably greater, since some inter- 
vals of rest are not specified in number of days. 

How to retrace their steps was now the problem, appar- 
ently insoluble. As to the military force of Persia in the 
field, indeed, not merely the easy victory at Kunaxa, but 
still more the undisputed march throughout so long a space, 
left them no serious apprehension. In spite of this great 
extent, population, and riches, they had been allowed to 
pass through the most difficult and defensible country, and 
to ford the broad Euphrates, without a blow : nay, the King 
had shrunk from defending the long trench which he had 
specially caused to be dug for the protection of Babylonia. 
But the difficulties which stood between them and their 
homes were of a very different character. How were they 
to find their way back, or obtain provisions, in defiance of 
a numerous hostile cavalry, which, not without efficiency 
even in a pitched battle, would be most formidable in oppos- 
ing their retreat t The line of their upward march had all 



b RETREAT OF THE 

been planned, with supplies furnished, by Cyrus : — yet 
even under such advantages, supplies had been on the point 
of failing, in one part of the march. They were now, for 
the first time, called upon to think and provide for them- 
selves ; without knowledge of either roads or distances — 
without trustworthy guides — without any one to furnish 
or even to indicate supplies — and with a territory all hos- 
tile, traversed by rivers which they had no means of cross- 
ing. Klearchus himself knew nothing of the country, nor 
of any other river except the Euphrates ; nor does he indeed 
in his heart seem to have conceived retreat as practicable 
without the consent of the King. The reader who casts 
his eye on a map of Asia, and imagines the situation of 
this Greek division on the left bank of the Euphrates, near 
the parallel of latitude 33° 30' — will hardly be surprised at 
any measure of despair, on the part either of general or 
soldiers. And we may add that Klearchus had not even 
the advantage of such a map, or probably of any map at 
all, to enable him to shape his course. 

In this dilemma, the first and most natural impulse was 
to consult Ariaeus ; who (as has been already stated) pro- 
nounced, with good reason, that return by the same road 
was impracticable ; and promised to conduct them home 
by another road — longer indeed, yet better supplied. 

§ 2. Commencement of the Retreat. 

At daybreak on the ensuing morning, they began their 
march in an easterly direction, anticipating that before 
night they should reach some villages of the Babylonian 
territory, as in fact they did ; yet not before they had been 
alarmed in the afternoon by the supposed approach of some 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 7 

of the enemy's horse, and by evidences that the enemy 
were not far off, which induced them to slacken their march 
for the purpose of more cautious array .^ Hence they did 
not reach the first villages before dark ; these too had been 
pillaged by the enemy while retreating before them, so that 
only the first-comers under Klearchus could obtain accom- 
modation, while the succeeding troops, coming up in the 
dark, pitched as they could without any order. The whole 
camp was a scene of clamor, dispute, and even alarm, 
throughout the night. No provisions could be obtained. 
Early the next morning Klearchus ordered them under 
arms ; and desiring to expose the groundless nature of the 
alarm, caused the herald ^ to proclaim, that whoever would 
denounce the person who had let the ass •" into the camp 
on the preceding night, should be rewarded with a talent ^ 
of silver. 

What was the project of route entertained by Arijeus, 
we cannot ascertain ; since it was not farther pursued. 
For the effect of the unexpected arrival of the Greeks as if 
to attack the enemy — and even the clamor and shouting 
of the camp during the night — so intimidated the Persian 
commanders, that they sent heralds the next morning to 
treat about a truce. The contrast between this message, 
and the haughty summons of the preceding day to lay 
■ !own their arms, was sensibly felt by the Grecian officers, 
;i id taught them that the proper way of dealing with the 

^ Array : disposition of forces with reference to defence or attack. 

- Herald : here used apparently in the sense of a public crier. 

^ This seems to have been a standing military jest, to make the soldiers 
Iiugh at their past panic. 

■* Talent: about 57 pounds avoirdupois; or, taking silver at its present 
value, about $1250. 



o RETREAT OF THE 

Persians was by a bold and aggressive demeanor. When 
Klearchus was apprised of the arrival of the heralds, he. 
desired them at first to wait at the outposts until he was 
at leisure : then, having put his troops into the best possi- 
ble order, with a phalanx ^ compact on every side to the 
eye, and the unarmed persons out of sight, he desired the 
heralds to be admitted. He marched out to meet them 
with the most showy and best-armed soldiers immediately 
around him, and when they informed him that they had 
come from the King with instructions to propose a truce, 
and to report on what conditions the Greeks would agree 
to it, Klearchus replied abruptly — "Well then — go and 
tell the King, that our first business must be to fight ; for 
we have nothing to eat, nor will any man presume to talk 
to Greeks about a truce, without first providing dinner 
for them." With this reply the heralds rode off, but re- 
turned very speedily ; thus making it plain that the King, 
or the commanding ofiEicer, was near at hand. They 
brought word that the King thought their answer reason- 
able, and had sent guides to conduct them to a place 
where they would obtain provisions, if the truce should 
be concluded. 

After an affected delay and hesitation, in order to impose 
upon the Persians, Klearchus concluded the truce, and 
desired that the guides should conduct the army to those 
quarters where provisions could be had. He was most cir- 
cumspect in maintaining exact order during the march, 
himself taking charge of the rear guard. The guides led 
them over many ditches and channels, full of water, and cut 

1 Phalanx : a body of troops in compact array, with their shields joined 
and their pikes or spears crossing each other, so as to present a firm, unbroken 
front to the foe. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 9 

for the purpose of irrigation^; some so broad and deep that 
they could not be crossed without bridges; The army had 
to put together bridges for the occasion, from palm-trees 
either already fallen, or expressly cut down. This was a 
troublesome business, which Klearchus himself superin- 
tended with peculiar strictness. He carried his spear in 
the left hand, his stick in the right ; employing the latter 
to chastise any soldier who seemed remiss — and even 
plunging into the mud and lending his own hands in aid 
wherever it was necessary. As it was not the usual sea- 
son of irrigation for crops he suspected that the canals had 
been filled on this occasion expressly to intimidate the 
Greeks, by impressing them with the difficulties of their 
prospective march ; and he was anxious to demonstrate to 
the Persians that these difficulties were no more than Gre- 
cian energy could easily surmount. 

At length they reached certain villages indicated by their 
guides for quarters and provisions ; and here for the first 
time they had a sample of that unparalleled abundance of 
the Babylonian territory, which Herodotus is afraid to 
describe with numerical precision. Large quantities of 
corn,^ — dates not only in great numbers, but of such 
beauty, freshness, size, and flavor, as no Greek had ever 
seen or tasted, insomuch that fruit like what was imported 
into Greece, was disregarded and left for the slaves — wine 

1 Irrigation : during the long dry summer the crops in this region would 
have perished from drought if the fields had not been watered. This was 
done by a system of canals, in which the supply of water, drawn from the 
overflow of the Tigris and Euphrates during the spring floods, was stored up 
to be used when needed. So abundant was the growth of grain on this rich 
soil that Herodotus did not dare state the amount for fear that he would be 
thought guilty of exaggeration. 

2 Corn : any kind of grain used for food. 



10 RETREAT OF THE 

and vinegar, both also made from the date-palm ; these are 
the luxuries which Xenophon is eloquent in describing, 
after his recent period of scanty fare and anxious appre- 
hension ; not without also noticing the headaches which 
such new and luscious food, in unlimited quantity, brought 
upon himself and others. 

§ 3. Negotiations with Tissaphernes. 

After three days passed in these restorative quarters, 
they were visited by Tissaphernes, accompanied by four 
Persian grandees and a suite of slaves. The satrap ^ began 
to open a negotiation with Klearchus and the other gen- 
erals. Speaking through an interpreter, he stated to them 
that the vicinity of his province to Greece impressed him 
with a strong interest in favor of the Cyreian Greeks,^ 
and made him anxious to rescue them out of their present 
desperate situation ; that he had solicited the King's per- 
mission to save them, as a personal recompense to himself 
for having been the first to forewarn him of the schemes 
of Cyrus, and for having been the only Persian who had 
not fled before the Greeks at Kunaxa ; that the King had 
promised to consider this point, and had sent him in the 
mean time to ask the Greeks what their purpose was in 
coming up to attack him ; and that he trusted the Greeks 
would give him a conciliatory answer to carry back, in 
order that he might have less difficulty in realizing what 
he desired for their benefit. To this Klearchus, after first 
deliberating apart with the other officers, replied, that the 
army had come together, and had even commenced their 

1 Satrap : the governor of a Persian province. 

" Cyreian Greeks : those Greeks who had engaged in the expedition or 
Cyrus in his attempt to seize the throne of Persia. See Introduction. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. II 

march, without any purpose of hostility to the King ; that 
Cyrus had brought tliem up the country under false pre- 
tences, but that they had been ashamed to desert him in 
the midst of danger, since he had always treated them 
generously ; that since Cyrus was now dead, they had no 
purpose of hostility against the King, but were only anxious 
to return home ; that they were prepared to repel hostility 
from all quarters, but would be not less prompt in requit- 
ing favor or assistance. With this answer Tissaphernes 
departed, and returned on the next day but one, informing 
them that he had obtained the King's permission to save 
the Grecian army — though not without great opposition, 
since many Persian counsellors contended that it was 
unworthy of the King's dignity to suffer those who had 
assailed him to escape. " I am now ready (said he) to con- 
clude a covenant ^ and exchange oaths with you ; engaging 
to conduct you safely back into Greece, with the country 
friendly, and with a regular market for you to purchase 
provisions. You must stipulate on your part always to 
pay for your provisions, and to do no damage to the coun- 
try : if I do not furnish you with provisions to buy, you 
are then at liberty to take them where you can find them." 
Well were the Greeks content to enter into such a cove- 
nant, which was sworn, with hands given upon it, by 
Klearchus, the other generals, and the captains on their 
side — and by Tissaphernes with the King's brother-in-law 
on the other. Tissaphernes then left them, saying that 
he would go back to the King, make preparations, and 
return to reconduct the Greeks home ; going himself to his 
own province. 

^ Covenant : a solemn agreement or treaty which both parties bound 
themselves to keep by oath, calling on their respective gods to punish them if 
they violated the compact. 



12 RETREAT OF THE 

The statements of Ktesias, though known to us only 
indirectly, and not to be received without caution, afford 
ground for believing that Queen Parysatis decidedly wished 
success to her son Cyrus in his contest for the throne — 
that the first report conveyed to her of the battle of Ku- 
naxa, announcing the victory of Cyrus, filled her with joy, 
which was exchanged for bitter sorrow when she was 
informed of his death, — that she caused to be slain with 
horrible tortures all those, who, though acting in the Per- 
sian army and for the defence of Artaxerxes, had any par- 
ticipation in the death of Cyrus — and that she showed 
favorable dispositions towards the Cyreian Greeks. It 
may seem probable, farther, that her influence may have 
been exerted to procure for them an unimpeded retreat, 
without anticipating the use afterwards made by Tissa- 
phernes (as will soon appear) of the present convention.^ 
And in one point of view the Persian king had an interest 
in facilitating their retreat. For the very circumstance 
which rendered retreat difficult, also rendered the Greeks 
dangerous to him in their actual position. They were in 
the heart of the Persian Empire, within seventy miles of 
Babylon ; in a country not only teeming with fertility, but 
also extremely defensible ; especially against cavalrv, from 
the multiplicity of canals, as Herodotus observed respect- 
ing Lower Egypt. And Klearchus might say to his 
Grecian soldiers — what Xenophon was afterwards prepar- 
ing to say to them at Kalpe on the Euxine Sea, and what 
Nikias also affirmed to the unhappy Athenian army whom 
he afterwards conducted away from Syracuse^ — that 
wherever they sat down, they were sufficiently numerous 

1 Convention : treaty or agreement. 

2 See note on p. 38. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 1 3 

and well-organized to become at once a city. A body of 
such troops might effectually assist, and would perhaps 
encourage, the Babylonian population to throw off the 
Persian yoke, and to relieve themselves from the prodig- 
ious tribute ^ which they now paid to the satrap. For 
these reasons, the advisers of Artaxerxes thought it ad- 
vantageous to convey the Greeks across the Tigris out of 
Babylonia, beyond all possibility of returning thither. 
This was at any rate the primary object of the convention. 
And it was the more necessary to conciliate the goodwill 
of the Greeks, because there seems to have been but one 
bridge over the Tigris ; which bridge could only be reached 
by inviting them to advance considerably farther into the 
interior of Babylonia. 

Such was the state of fears and hopes on both sides, at 
the time when Tissaphernes left the Greeks, after con- 
cluding his convention. For twenty days did they await 
his return, without receiving from him any communica- 
tion ; the Cyreian Persians ^ under Ariaeus being encamped 
near them. Such prolonged and unexplained delay be- 
came, after a few days, the source of much uneasiness to 
the Greeks ; the more so, as Ariaeus received during this 
interval several visits from his Persian kinsmen, and 
friendly messages from the King, promising amnesty^ for 
his recent services under Cyrus. Of these messages the 
effects were painfully felt, in manifest coldness of demeanor 
on the part of his Persian troops towards the Greeks. 

1 Tribute : this was an annual tax so heavy and so cruelly extorted that 
it kept the great body of the people in a state little better than that of slavery. 

^ Cyreian Persians : those Persians who had espoused the cause of 
Cyrus in his attempt to seize the throne. 

^ Amnesty : pardon. 



14 RETREAT OF THE 

Impatient and suspicious, the Greek soldiers impressed 
upon Klearchus thieir fears, that the King had concluded 
the recent convention only to arrest their movements, 
until he should have assembled a larger army and blocked 
up more effectually the roads against their return. To 
this Klearchus replied — "I am aware of all that you say. 
Yet if we now strike our tents,^ it will be a breach of the 
convention, and a declaration of war. No one will furnish 
us with provisions : we shall have no guides : Ariaeus will 
desert us forthwith, so that we shall have his troops as 
enemies instead of friends. Whether there be any other 
river for us to cross, I know not ; but we know that the 
Euphrates itself can never be crossed, if there be an enemy 
to resist us. Nor have we any cavalry, — while cavalry is 
the best and most numerous force of our enemies. If the 
King, having all these advantages, really wishes to destroy 
us, I do not know why he should falsely exchange all these 
oaths and solemnities, and thus make his own word worth- 
less in the eyes both of Greeks and barbarians." ^ 

Such words from Klearchus are remarkable, as they 
testify his own complete despair of the situation — cer- 
tainly a very natural despair — except by amicable dealing 
with the Persians ; and also his ignorance of geography 
and the country to be traversed. This feeling helps to 
explain his imprudent confidence afterwards in Tissa- 
phernes. 

That satrap, however, after twenty days, at last came 

1 Strike our tents : take down our tents. 

2 Barbarians : the Greeks called all foreigners " barbarians." This word, 
however, did not generally express contempt, or necessarily imply lack of 
civilization, but was used to designate those who spoke another language than 
Greek. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 1 5 

back, with his army prepared to return to Ionia ^ — with 
the King's daughter, whom he had just received in mar- 
riage — and with another grandee named Orontas. Tissa- 
phernes took the conduct of the march, providing supplies 
for the Greek troops to purchase ; while Ariasus and his 
division now separated themselves altogether from the 
Greeks, and became intermingled with the other Persians. 
Klearchus and the Greeks followed them, at the distance 
of about three miles in the rear, with a separate guide for 
themselves ; not without jealousy and mistrust, sometimes 
shown in individual conflicts, while collecting wood or 
forage, between them and the Persians of Ariseus. After 
three days' march (that is, apparently, three days, calcu- 
lated from the moment when they began their retreat with 
Ariaeus) they came to the Wall of Media,^ and passed 
through it, prosecuting their march onward through the 
country on its other or interior side. It was of bricks 
cemented with bitumen,^ lOO feet high, and 20 feet broad ; 
it was said to extend a length of about 70 miles, and to 
be not far distant from Babylon. Two days of farther 
march, computed at 28 miles, brought them to the Tigris. 
During these two days they crossed two great ship-canals, 
one of them over a permanent bridge, the other over a 
temporary bridge laid on seven boats. Canals of such 
magnitude must probably have been two among the four 
stated by Xenophon to be drawn from the river Tigris, 
each of them about three miles and a half distant from 
the other. They were 100 feet broad, and deep enough 

^ Ionia: see note on p. 21. 

2 Wall of Media : a wall supposed to have extended from the Euphrates 
to the Tigris. It cannot now be traced with certainty. 

2 Bitumen : mineral pitch or asphalt. It is now much used for cement, 
for making pavements, and for covering flat roofs. 



1 6 RETREAT OF THE 

even for heavy vessels ; they were distributed by means 
of numerous smaller channels and ditches for the irriga- 
tion of the soil ; and they were said to fall into the Eu- 
phrates ; or rather perhaps they terminated in one main 
larger canal cut directly from the Euphrates to the Tigris, 
each of them joining this larger canal at a different point 
of its course. Within less than two miles of the Tigris 
was a large and populous city named Sittake, near which 
the Greeks pitched their camp, on the verge of a beautiful 
park or thick grove full of all kinds of trees ; while the Per- 
sians all crossed the Tigris, at the neighboring bridge. 

As Proxenus and Xenophon were here walking in front 
of the camp after supper, a man was brought up who had 
asked for the former at the advanced posts. This man 
said that he came with instructions from Ariaeus. He 
advised the Greeks to be on their guard, as there were 
troops concealed in the adjoining grove, for the purpose of 
attacking them during the night — and also to send and 
occupy the bridge over the Tigris, since Tissaphernes 
intended to break it down, in order that the Greeks might 
be caught without possibility of escape between the river 
and the canal. On discussing this information with Klear- 
chus, who was much alarmed by it, a young Greek present 
remarked that the two matters stated by the informant con- 
tradicted each other ; for that if Tissaphernes intended to 
attack the Greeks during the night, he would not break 
down the bridge, so as both to prevent his own troops on 
the other side from crossing to aid, and to deprive those on 
this side of all retreat if they were beaten, — while, if the 
Greeks were beaten, there was no escape open to them, 
whether the bridge continued or not. This remark induced 
Klearchus to ask the messenger, what was the extent of 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 1 7 

ground between the Tigris and the canal. The messenger 
replied that it was a great extent of country, comprising 
many large cities and villages. Reflecting on this com- 
munication, the Greek officers came to the conclusion that 
the message was a stratagem on the part of Tissaphernes 
to frighten them and hasten their passage across the Ti- 
gris ; under the apprehension that they might conceive the 
plan of seizing or breaking the bridge and occupying a per- 
manent position in the spot where they were ; which was 
an island, fortified on one side by the Tigris, — on the 
other sides, by intersecting canals between the Euphrates 
and the Tigris. Such an island was a defensible position, 
having a most productive territory with numerous culti- 
vators, so as to furnish shelter and means of hostility for 
all the King's enemies : Tissaphernes calculated that the 
message now delivered would induce the Greeks to become 
alarmed with their actual position, and to cross the Tigris 
with as little delay as possible. At least this was the 
interpretation which the Greek officers put upon his pro- 
ceeding ; an interpretation highly plausible, since, in order 
to reach the bridge over the Tigris, he had been obliged to 
conduct the Greek troops into a position sufficiently tempt- 
ing for them to hold — and since he knew that his own pur- 
poses were purely treacherous. But the Greeks, officers as 
well as soldiers, were animated only by the wish of reach- 
ing home. They trusted, though not without misgivings, 
in the promise of Tissaphernes to conduct them ; and 
never for a moment thought of taking permanent post in 
this fertile island. They did not however neglect the pre- 
caution of sending a guard during the night to the bridge 
over the Tigris, which no enemy came to assail. On the 
next morning they passed over it in a body, in cautious and 



16 RETREAT OF THE 

mistrustful array, and found themselves on the eastern 
bank of the Tigris, — not only without attack, but even 
without sight of a single Persian, except Glus the interpre- 
ter and a few others watching their motions. 

After having crossed by a bridge laid upon thirty-seven 
pontoons,^ the Greeks continued their march to the north- 
ward upon the eastern side of the Tigris, for four days to 
the river Physkus ; said to be seventy miles. The Physkus 
was lOO feet wide, with a bridge, and the large city of Opis 
near it. Here, at the frontier of Assyria and Media, the 
road from the eastern regions to Babylon joined the road 
northerly on which the Greeks were marching. An ille- 
gitimate brother of Artaxerxes was seen at the head of a 
numerous force, which he was conducting from Susa and 
Ekbatana as a reinforcement to the royal army. This great 
host halted to see the Greeks pass by ; and Klearchus 
ordered the march in column of two abreast, employing 
himself actively to maintain an excellent array, and halting 
more than once. The army thus occupied so long a time 
in passing by the Persian host that their numbers appeared 
greater than the reality, even to themselves ; while the 
effect upon the Persian spectators was very imposing. 
Here Assyria ended and Media began. They marched, 
still in a northerly direction, for six days through a portion 
of Media almost unpeopled, until they came to some flour- 
ishing villages which formed a portion of the domain of 
Queen Parysatis ; probably these villages, forming so 
marked an exception to the desert character of the remain- 
ing march, were situated on the Lesser Zab, which flows 

1 Pontoons : light framework or floats on which a platform or roadway is 
laid for a temporary bridge. Boats or canoes, placed side by side, and covered 
with planks, are not infrequently so used. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 1 9 

into the Tigris, and which Xenophon must have crossed, 
though he makes no mention of it. According to the 
order of march stipulated between the Greeks and Tissa- 
phernes, the latter only provided a supply of provisions for 
the former to purchase ; but on the present halt, he allowed 
the Greeks to plunder the villages, which were rich and full 
of all sorts of subsistence — yet without carrying off the 
slaves. The wish of the satrap to put an insult on Cyrus, 
as his personal enemy, thr jugh Parysatis, thus proved a 
sentence of ruin to these unhappy villagers. Five more 
days' march, called seventy miles, brought them to the 
banks of the river Zabatus, or the Greater Zab, which flows 
into the Tigris near a town now called Senn. During the 
first of these five days, they saw on the opposite side of 
the Tigris a large town called Kaenae, from whence they 
received supplies of provisions, brought across by the 
inhabitants upon rafts supported by inflated skins.^ 

§ 4. Treachery of Tissaphernes. 

On the banks of the Great Zab they halted three days 
— days of serious and tragical moment. Having been 
under feelings of mistrust, ever since the convention with 
Tissaphernes, they had followed throughout the whole 
march, with separate guides of their own, in the rear of 
his army, always maintaining their encampment apart. 
During their halt on the Zab, so many various manifesta- 
tions occurred to aggravate the mistrust, that hostilities 
seemed on the point of breaking out between the two 
camps. To obviate this danger Klearchus demanded an 

1 Inflated skins : bags or vessels made of the skins of sheep and other 
animals. They are quite commonly used in the East for carrying wine and 
other liquids. When inflated they are also employed as above mentioned. 



20 RETREAT OF THE 

interview with Tissaphernes, represented to him the 
threatening attitude of affairs, and insisted on the neces- 
sity of coming to a clear understanding. He impressed 
upon the satrap that, over and above the solemn oaths 
which had been interchanged, the Greeks on their side 
could have no conceivable motive to quarrel with him ; 
that they had everything to hope from his friendship, and 
everything to fear, even to the loss of all chance of safe 
return, from his hostility; that Tissaphernes also could 
gain nothing by destroying them, but would find them, if 
he chose, the best and most faithful instruments for his 
own aggrandizement and for conquering the Mysians and 
Pisidians^ — as Cyrus had experienced while he was alive. 
Klearchus concluded his protest by requesting to be in- 
formed, what malicious reporter had been filling the mind of 
Tissaphernes with causeless suspicions against the Greeks. 
"Klearchus (replied the satrap), I rejoice to hear such 
excellent sense from your lips. You remark truly, that if 
you were to meditate evil against me, it would recoil upon 
yourselves. I shall prove to you, in my turn, that you 
have no cause to mistrust either the King or me. If we 
had wished to destroy you, nothing would be easier. We 
have superabundant forces for the purpose : there are 
wide plains in which you would be starved — besides moun- 
tains and rivers which you would be unable to pass, with- 
out our help. Having thus the means of destroying you 
in our hands, and having nevertheless bound ourselves by 
solemn oaths to save you, we shall not be fools and knaves 
enough to attempt it now, when we should draw upon our- 
selves the just indignation of the gods. It is my peculiar 
affection for my neighbors the Greeks — and my wish to > 

1 Mysians and Pisidians : see note on p. 35. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 21 

attach to my own person, by tics of gratitude, tlie Greek 
soldiers of Cyrus — wliich have made me eager to conduct 
you to Ionia ^ in safety. For I know that when you are in 
my service, though the King is the only man who can wear 
his tiara ^ erect upon his head, I shall be able to wear mine 
erect upon my heart, in full pride and confidence." 

So powerful was the impression made upon Klearchus 
by these assurances, that he exclaimed — "Surely those 
informers deserve the severest punishment, who try to put 
us at enmity, when we are such good friends to each other, 
and have so much reason to be so." "Yes (replied Tis- 
saphernes), they deserve nothing less : and if you, with the 
other generals and captains, will come into my tent to- 
morrow, I will tell you who the calumniators are." "To- 
be-sure I will (rejoined Klearchus), and bring the other 
generals with me. I shall tell you at the same time who 
are the parties that seek to prejudice us against you." 
The conversation then ended, the satrap detaining Klear- 
chus to dinner, and treating him in the most hospitable 
and confidential manner. 

1 Ionia : the central part of the western coast of Asia Minor. Here, at a 
very early period, flourishing Greek colonics were planted, and Ionia became 
celebrated for its art, its literature, and its cities, such as Ephesus and Miletus. 
But the country could not maintain its independence against the Eastern 
kings, and was at this period tributary to Persia. If the Ten Thousand could 
reach Ionia they would be among fellow-countrymen and friends, and within 
easy sail of all parts of Greece. 

^ Tiara : a flexible cap worn by the Persians. The king alone had the 
right to wear it erect and high, as a badge of royal authority. Some suppose 
that when Tissaphernes says that though he cannot openly place the high 
tiara on his head, but shall wear it on his heart (feeling like a king if not 
looking like one), that he purposely uses the language "the better to blind 
Klearchus," and make him think that if the Greeks will aid him with their 
arms, he will revolt and aspire to become king in fact. 



22 RETREAT OF THE 

On the next morning, Klearchus communicated what 
had passed to the Greeks, insisting on the necessity that 
all the generals should go to Tissaphernes pursuant to his 
invitation ; in order to re-establish that confidence which 
unworthy calumniators had shaken, and to punish such of 
the calumniators as might be Greeks. So emphatically 
did he pledge himself for the good faith and philhellenic ^ 
dispositions of the satrap, that he overruled the opposition 
of many among the soldiers ; who, still continuing to en- 
tertain their former suspicions, remonstrated especially 
against the extreme imprudence of putting all the generals 
at once into the power of Tissaphernes. The urgency of 
Klearchus prevailed. Himself with four other generals — 
Proxenus, Menon, Agias, and Sokrates — and twenty cap- 
tains — went to visit the satrap in his tent; about 200 of 
the soldiers going along with them, to make purchases for 
their own account in the Persian camp-market. 

On reaching the quarters of Tissaphernes — distant 
nearly three miles from the Persian camp according to 
habit ^ — the five generals were admitted into the interior, 
while the captains remained at the entrance. A purple 
flag, hoisted from the top of the tent, betrayed too late the 
purpose for which they had been invited to come. The 
captains, with the Grecian soldiers who had accompanied 
them, were surprised and cut down, while the generals in 
the interior were detained, put in chains, and carried up as 
prisoners to the Persian court. Here Klearchus, Proxe- 
nus, Agias, and Sokrates, were beheaded, after a short im- 
prisonment. Queen Parysatis, indeed, from affection to 
Cyrus, not only furnished many comforts to Klearchus in 
the prison (by the hands of her surgeon Ktesias), but used 

^ Philhellenic : Greek-loving. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 2^ 

all her influence with her son Artaxerxes to save his life ; 
though her efforts were counteracted, on this occasion, by 
the superior influence of Queen Stateira, his wife. The 
rivalry between these two royal women, doubtless arising 
out of many other circumstances besides the death of 
Klearchus, became soon afterwards so furious, that Pary- 
satis caused Stateira to be poisoned. 

Menon was not put to death along with the other gen- 
erals. He appears to have taken credit at the Persian 
court for the treason of entrapping his colleagues into the 
hands of Tissaphernes. But his life was only prolonged to 
perish a year afterwards in disgrace and torture — prob- 
ably by the requisition of Parysatis, who thus avenged 
the death of Klearchus. The queen-mother had always 
power enough to perpetrate cruelties, though not always 
to avert them. She had already brought to a miser- 
able end every one, even faithful defenders of Artaxerxes, 
concerned in the death of her son Cyrus. 

Though Menon thought it convenient, when brought up 
to Babylon, to boast of having been the instrument through 
whom the generals were entrapped into the fatal tent, this 
boast is not to be treated as matter of fact. For not only 
does Xenophon explain the catastrophe differently, but in 
the delineation which he gives of Menon, dark and odious 
as it is in the extreme, he does not advance any such impu- 
tation ; indirectly, indeed, he sets it aside. 

Unfortunately for the reputation of Klearchus, no such 
reasonable excuse can be offered for his credulity, which 
brought himself as well as his colleagues to so melancholy 
an end, and his whole army to the brink of ruin. It 
appears that the general sentiment of the Grecian army, 
taking just measure of the character of Tissaphernes, was 



24 RETREAT OF THE 

disposed to greater circumspection in dealing with him. 
Upon that system Klearchus himself had hitherto acted ; 
and the necessity of it might have been especially present 
to his mind, since he had served with the Lacedaemonian 
fleet at Miletus ^ in 411 B.C., and had therefore had fuller 
experience than other men in the army, of the satrap's real 
character. On a sudden he now turns round, and on the 
faith of a few verbal declarations, puts all the military 
chiefs into the most defenceless posture and the most 
obvious peril, such as hardly the strongest grounds for 
confidence could have justified. Though the remark of 
Machiavel is justified by large experience — that from 
the short-sightedness of men and their obedience to pres- 
ent impulse, the most notorious deceiver will always find 
new persons to trust him — still such misjudgment on the 
part of an officer of age and experience is difficult to explain. 
Polysenus intimates that beautiful women, exhibited by the- 
satrap at his first banquet to Klearchus alone, served as a 
lure to attract him with all his colleagues to the second; 
while Xenophon imputes the error to continuance of a 
jealous rivalry with Menon. The latter, it appears, having 
always been intimate with Ariasus, had been thus brought 
into previous communication with Tissaphernes, by whom 
he had been well received, and by whom he was also en- 
couraged to lay plans for detaching the whole Grecian army 
from Klearchus so as to bring it all under his (Menon's) 

1 Miletus: a city of Ionia, subject in a measure to Athens, revolted in 
412 B.C. The next year the Lacedaemonians, or Spartans, who were the 
enemies of Athens, sent over a fleet to aid the people of Miletus. Tissa- 
phernes, the Persian satrap, desiring to see the power of Athens completely 
overthrown, promised to pay the Spartan soldiers (of whom Klearchus was 
one), but aftervi'ards made up his mind not to do so, and left them to fight at 
their own expense. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 2$ 

command into the services of the satrap. Such at least 
was the suspicion of Klearchus ; who, jealous in the ex- 
treme of his own military authority, tried to defeat the 
scheme by bidding still higher himself for the favor of 
Tissaphernes. Imagining that Menon was the unknown 
calumniator who prejudiced the satrap against him, he 
hoped to prevail on the satrap to disclose his name and 
dismiss him. Such jealousy seems to have robbed Klear- 
chus of his customary prudence. We must also allow for 
another impression deeply fixed in his mind ; that the sal- 
vation of the army was hopeless without the consent of 
Tissaphernes, and therefore, since the latter had con- 
ducted them thus far in safety, when he might have de- 
stroyed them before, that his designs at the bottom could 
not be hostile. 

Notwithstanding these two great mistakes — one on the 
present occasion, one previously, at the battle of Kunaxa, 
in keeping the Greeks on the right contrary to the order of 
Cyrus — both committed by Klearchus, the loss of that 
officer was doubtless a great misfortune to the army ; 
while, on the contrary, the removal of Menon was a sig- 
nal benefit — perhaps a condition of ultimate safety. A 
man so treacherous and unprincipled as Xenophon depicts 
Menon, would probably have ended by really committing 
towards the army that treason, for which he falsely took 
credit at the Persian court in reference to the seizure of 
the generals. 

The impression entertained by Klearchus, respecting 
the hopeless position of the Greeks in the heart of the 
Persian territory after the death of Cyrus was perfectly 
natural in a military man who could appreciate all the means 
of attack and obstruction which the enemy had it in their 



26 RETREAT OF THE 

power to employ. Nothing is so unaccountable in this ex- 
pedition as the manner in which such means were thrown 
away — the spectacle of Persian impotence. First, the 
whole line of upward march, including the passage of the 
Euphrates, left undefended ; next, the long trench dug 
across the frontier of Babylonia, with only a passage of 
twenty feet wide left near the Euphrates, abandoned with- 
out a guard ; lastly, the line of the Wall of Media and the 
canals which offered such favorable positions for keeping 
the Greeks out of the cultivated territory of Babylonia, 
neglected in like manner, and a convention concluded 
whereby the Persians engaged to escort the invaders safe to 
the Ionian coast, beginning by conducting them through 
the heart of Babylonia, amidst canals affording inexpugnable 
defences if the Greeks had chosen to take up a position 
among them. The plan of Tissaphernes, as far as we can 
understand it, seems to have been, to draw the Greeks to 
some considerable distance from the heart of the Persian 
empire, and then to open his schemes of treasonable hos- 
tility, which the imprudence of Klearchus enabled him to 
do, on the banks of the Great Zab, with chances of success 
such as he could hardly have contemplated. We have 
here a fresh example of the wonderful impotence of the 
Persians. We should have expected that, after having com- 
mitted so flagrant an act of perfidy, Tissaphernes would 
at least have tried to turn it to account ; that he would 
have poured with all his forces and all his vigor on the 
Grecian camp, at the moment when it was unprepared, dis- 
organized, and without commanders. Instead of which, 
when the generals (with those who accompanied them to 
the Persian camp) had been seized or slain, no attack what- 
ever was made except by small detachments of Persian cav- 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 2/ 

airy iqDon individual Greek stragglers in the plain. One 
of the companions of the generals, an Arcadian,^ named 
Nikarchus, ran wounded into the Grecian camp, where the 
soldiers were looking from afar at the horsemen scouring 
the plain without knowing what they were about, — ex- 
claiming that the Persians were massacring all the Greeks, 
officers as well as soldiers. Immediately the Greek soldiers 
hastened to put themselves in defence, expecting a general 
attack to be made upon their camp ; but no more Persians 
came near than a body of about 300 horse, under Ariaeus 
and Mithridates (the confidential companions of the de- 
ceased Cyrus), accompanied by the brother of Tissaphernes. 
These men, approaching the Greek lines as friends, called 
for the Greek officers to come forth, as they had a mes- 
sage to deliver from the King. Accordingly, Kleanor and 
Sophaenetus with an adequate guard, came to the front, 
accompanied by Xenophon, who was anxious to hear 
news about Proxenus. Ariaeus then acquainted them that 
Klearchus, having been detected in a breach of the con- 
vention to which he had sworn, had been put to death ; 
that Proxenus and Menon, who had divulged his treason, 
were in high honor at the Persian quarters. He con- 
cluded by saying — " The King calls upon you to surrender 
your arms, which now (he says) belong to him, since they 
formerly belonged to his slave Cyrus." 

The step here taken seems to testify a belief on the part 
of these Persians, that the generals being now in their 
power the Grecian soldiers had become defenceless, and 
might be required to surrender their arms, even to men 
who had just been guilty of the most deadly fraud and 

1 Arcadian : an inhabitant of Arcadia, a district of the Peloponnesian 
peninsula, Greece. 



2 b KETKEAT OF THE 

injury towards them. If Aria^us entertained such an ex- 
pectation, he was at once undeceived by the language of 
Kleanor and Xenophon, which breathed nothing but indig- 
nant reproach ; so that he soon retired and left the Greeks 
to their own reflections. 

While their camp yet remained unmolested, every man 
within it was a prey to the most agonizing apprehensions. 
Ruin appeared impending and inevitable, though no one 
could tell in what precise form it would come. The Greeks 
were in the midst of a hostile country, nearly 1200 miles 
from home, surrounded by enemies, blocked up by_ impass- 
able mountains and rivers, without guides, without pro- 
visions, without cavalry to aid their retreat, without 
generals to give orders. A stupor of sorrow and con- 
scious helplessness seized upon all. Few came to the 
evening muster ; few lighted fires to cook their suppers ; 
every man lay down to rest where he was ; yet no man 
could sleep, for fear, anguish, and yearning after relatives 
whom he was never again to behold. 

Amidst the many causes of despondency which weighed 
down this forlorn army, there was none more serious than 
the fact, that not a single man among them had now either 
authority to command, or obligation to take the initiative. 
Nor was any ambitious candidate likely to volunteer his 
pretensions, at a moment when the post promised nothing 
but the maximum of difficulty as well as of hazard. A new, 
self-kindled light — and self-originated stimulus — was re- 
quired, to vivify the embers of suspended hope and action, 
in a mass paralyzed for the moment, but every way capable 
of effort. And the inspiration now fell, happily for the 
army, upon one in whom a full measure of soldierly strength 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 29 

and courage was combined with the education of an Athe- 
nian, a democrat, and a philosopher. ^ 

§ 5. Xenophon's Dream and its Results. 

It is in true Homeric vein, and in something like 
Homeric language, that Xenophon (to whom we owe the 
whole narrative of the expedition) describes his dream, or 
the intervention of Oneirus,^ sent by Zeus,^ from which 
this renovating impulse took its rise. Lying mournful and 
restless like his comrades, he caught a short repose ; when 
he dreamt that he heard thunder, and saw the burning 
thunderbolt fall upon his paternal house, which became 
forthwith encircled by flames. Awaking, full of terror, he 
instantly sprang up ; upon which the dream began to fit 
on and blend itself with his waking thoughts, and with 
the cruel realities of his position. His pious and excited 
fancy generated a series of shadowy analogies. The dream 
was sent by Zeus the King, since it was from him that 
thunder and lightning proceeded. In one respect, the sign 
was auspicious — that a great light had appeared to hirh 
from Zeus in the midst of peril and suffering. But on the 
other hand, it was alarming, that the house had appeared 
to be completely encircled by flames, preventing all egress, 

1 Democrat and philosopher: Xenophon (43i?-355 B.C.) belonged to 
that party in Athens that maintained the principle of government " of the 
people, by the people, and for the people," in opposition to the party that, 
like the Spartans, believed that all political power should be monopolized by 
a favored few. Xenophon was also the disciple and friend of Socrates the 
philosopher, of whom some account will be given later on. 

- Oneirus : the god of dreams and messenger of Zeus (Jupiter), father 
of gods antl men, sometimes called Zeus the Preserver, Saviour, or Deliverer. 

"^ Zeus : see note aljove on Oneirus. 



30 HE THE AT OF THE 

because this seemed to indicate that he would remain con- 
fined where he was in the Persian dominions, without being 
able to overcome the difficulties which hedged him in. 
Yet doubtful as the promise was, it was still the message 
of Zeus addressed to himself, serving as a stimulus to him 
to break through the common stupor and take the initia- 
tive movement. " Why am I lying here } Night is ad- 
vancing ; at daybreak the enemy will be on us, and we 
shall be put to death with tortures. Not a man is stirring 
to take measures of defence. Why do I wait for any man 
older than myself, or for any man of a different city, to 
begin .'' " 

With these reflections, interesting in themselves, and 
given with Homeric vivacity, he instantly went to convene 
the captains who had served under his late friend Proxenus. 
He impressed upon them emphatically the necessity of 
standing forward to put the army in a posture of defence. 
" I cannot sleep, fellow-soldiers ; neither, I presume, can 
you, under our present perils. The enemy will be upon 
us at daybreak — prepared to kill us all with tortures, as 
his worst enemies. For my part, I rejoice that his villa- 
nous perjury has put an end to a truce by which we were 
the great losers ; a truce, under which we, mindful of our 
oaths, have passed through all the rich possessions of the 
King, without touching anything except what we could 
purchase with our own scanty means. Now, we have our 
hands free : all these rich spoils stand between us and him, 
as prizes for the better man. The gods, who preside over 
the match, will assuredly be on the side of us, who have 
kept our oaths in spite of strong temptations, against 
these perjurers. Moreover, our bodies are more enduring, 
and our spirit more gallant, than theirs. They are easier 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 3 1 

to wound, and easier to kill, than we are, under the same 
favor of the gods as we experienced at Kunaxa. 

"Probably others also are feeling just as we feel. But 
let us not wait for any one else to come as monitors to us : 
let us take the lead, and communicate the stimulus of 
honor to others. Do you show yourselves now the best 
among the captains — more worthy of being generals than 
the generals themselves. Begin at once, and I desire only 
to follow you. But if you order me into the front rank, 
I shall obey without pleading my youth as an excuse — 
accounting myself to be of complete maturity, when the 
purpose is to save myself from ruin." 

All the captains who heard Xenophon cordially con- 
curred in his suggestion, and desired him to take the lead 
in executing it. One captain alone — Apollonides, speak- 
ing in the Bojotian dialect ^ — protested against it as in- 
sane ; enlarging upon their desperate position, and insist- 
ing upon submission to the King as the only chance of 
safety. " How } (replied Xenophon). Have you forgotten 
the courteous treatment which we received from the Per- 
sians in Babylonia when we replied to their demand for 
the surrender of our arms by showing a bold front } Do 
not you see the miserable fate which has befallen Klear- 
chus, when he trusted himself unarmed in their hands, in 
reliance on their oaths } And yet you scout our exhorta- 
tions to resistance, again advising us to go and plead for 
indulgence ! My friends, such a Greek as this man, dis- 
graces not only his own city, but all Greece besides. Let 
us banish him from our councils, cashier ^ him, and make 

1 Boeotian dialect : the inhabitants of the Greek province of Boeotia were 
considered by the Athenians to be a dull and unprogressive people. They 
spoke a broad, coarse dialect. 

- Cashier: to dismiss from service. 



32 RETREAT OF THE 

a slave of him to carry baggage." " Nay (observed Agasias 
of Stymphalus), the man has nothing to do with Greece : 
I myself have seen his ears bored, like a true Lydian." ^ 
Apollonides was degraded accordingly. 

Xenophon with the rest then distributed themselves in 
order to bring together the chief remaining officers in the 
army, who were presently convened, to the number of 
about one hundred. The senior captain of the earlier body 
next desired Xenophon to repeat to this larger body the 
topics upon which he had just before been insisting. 
Xenophon obeyed, enlarging yet more emphatically on the 
situation, perilous, yet not without hope — on the proper 
measures to be taken — and especially on the necessity 
that they, the chief officers remaining, should put them- 
selves forward prominently, first fix upon effective com- 
manders, then afterwards submit the names to be confirmed 
by the army, accompanied with suitable exhortations and 
encouragement. His speech was applauded and welcomed, 
especially by the Lacedsemonian general Cheirisophus, 
who had joined Cyrus with a body of 700 heavy-armed 
foot-soldiers at Issus in Kilikia.^ Cheirisophus urged the 
captains to retire forthwith, and agree upon their com- 
manders instead of the five who had been seized ; after 
which the herald must be summoned, and the entire body 
of soldiers convened without delay. Accordingly Timasion 
of Dardanus was chosen instead of Klearchus ; Xanthikles 
in place of Sokrates ; Kleanor in place of Agias ; Philesius 

1 Ears bored : this was an Eastern (Lydian) custom, which the Greeks 
despised as only befitting slaves, since with them it was a mark of servitude. 
Agasias intimates that Apollonides either had been a slave or at least ought 
to be one. 

2 Kilikia (also spelled Cilicia) : Asia 2iIinor. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 33 

in place of Menon ; and Xenophon instead of Proxeniis. 
The captains, who had served under each of the departed 
generals, separately chose a successor to the caotain thus 
promoted. It is to be recollected that the five now chosen 
were not the only generals in the camp ; thus for example, 
Cheirisophus had the command of his own separate divis- 
ion, and there may have been one or two others similarly 
placed. But it was now necessary for all the generals to 
form a Board and act in concert. 

At daybreak the newly-constituted Board of generals 
placed proper outposts in advance, and then convened the 
army in general assembly, in order that the new appoint- 
ments might be submitted and confirmed. As soon as this 
had been done, probably on the proposition of Cheirisophus 
(who had been in command before), that general addressed 
a few words of exhortation and encouragement to the 
soldiers. He was followed by Kleanor, who delivered, 
with the like brevity, an earnest protest against the perfidy 
of Tissaphernes and Ariasus. Both of them left to Xeno- 
phon the task, alike important and arduous at this moment 
of despondency, of setting forth the case at length, — 
working up the feelings of the soldiers to that pitch of 
resolution which the emergency required, — and above all 
extinguishing all those inclinations to acquiesce in new 
treacherous proposals from the enemy, which the perils of 
the situation would be likely to suggest. 

Xenophon had equipped himself in his finest military 
costume at this his first ofificial appearance before the 
army, when the scales seemed to tremble between life and 
death. Taking up the protest of Kleanor against the 
treachery of the Persians, he insisted that any attempt to 
enter into convention or trust with such liars, would be 



34 RETREAT OF THE 

utter ruin — but that if energetic resolution were taken to 
deal with them only at the point of the sword, and punish 
their misdeeds, there was good hope of the favor of the 
gods and of ultimate preservation. As he pronounced this 
last word, one of the soldiers near him happened to sneeze.^ 
Immediately the whole army around shouted with one 
accord the accustomed invocation to Zeus the Preserver ; 
and Xenophon, taking up the accident, continued — " Since, 
fellow-soldiers, this omen from Zeus the Preserver has 
appeared at the instant when we were talking about pres- 
ervation, let us here vow to offer the preserving sacrifice 
to that god, and at the same time to sacrifice to the 
remaining gods as well as we can, in the first friendly 
country which we may reach. Let every man who agrees 
with me hold up his hand." All held up their hands : all 
then joined in the vow, and shouted the psean.^ 

This accident, so dexterously turned to profit by the 
rhetorical skill of Xenophon, was eminently beneficial in 
raising the army out of the depression which weighed them 
down, and in disposing them to listen to his animating 
appeal. Repeating his assurances that the gods were on 
their side, and hostile to their perjured enemy, he recalled 
to their memory the great invasions of Greece by Darius 
and Xerxes, — how the vast hosts of Persia had been dis- 
gracefully repelled. The army had shown themselves on 
the field of Kunaxa worthy of such forefathers ; and they 

1 Sneeze : any sudden, involuntary outburst, like sneezing, was considered a 
sign of the divine will for good or evil. As it occurred here just as Xenophon 
pronounced the auspicious word " preservation," it was regarded as a favor- 
able omen sent by Zeus himself. The accustomed invocation was like the old 
English custom of crying " God bless you " when one sneezed. 

2 Paean : war-song, song of triumph; origiixally addressed to the god 
Apollo. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 35 

would for the future be yet bolder, knowing by that battle 
of what stuff the Persians were made. As for Ariaeus and 
his troops, alike traitors and cowards, their desertion was 
rather a gain than a loss. The enemy were superior in 
horsemen : but men on horseback were after all only men, 
half occupied in the fear of losing their seats — incapable 
of prevailing against infantry firm on the ground, — and 
only better able to run away. Now that the satrap refused 
to furnish them with provisions to buy, they on their side 
were released from their covenant, and would take provis- 
ions without buying. Then as to the rivers ; those were 
indeed difficult to be crossed, in the middle of their course ; 
but the army would march up to their sources, and could 
then pass them without wetting the knee. Or indeed, the 
Greeks might renounce the idea of retreat, and establish 
themselves permanently in the King's own country, defy- 
ing all his force, like the Mysians and Pisidians.^ " If (said 
Xenophon) we plant ourselves here at our ease in a rich 
country, with these tall, stately and beautiful Median and 
Persian women for our companions — we shall be only too 
ready, like the Lotos-eaters,^ to forget our way home. We 
ought first to go back to Greece, and tell our countrymen 
that if they remain poor, it is their own fault, when there 
are rich settlements in this country awaiting all who choose 
to come, and who have courage to seize them. Let us 

1 Mysians and Pisidians : rude tribes inhabiting mountainous districts 
of Asia Minor, and maintaining their independence in spite of the efforts of 
the Persian kings to subjugate them. 

2 J-,otos-eaters : the lotos is a date-hlce fruit, fabled by Homer in the 
" Odyssey " to be so delicious and possessed of such marvellous properties 
that those who once tasted it forgot home and friends and wished only to 
remain where they might continue to eat it forever. See " Odyssey," Book 
IX., and compare Tennyson's poem of the " Lotos-Eaters." 



30 RETREAT GF THE 

burn our baggage wagons and tents, and carry with us 
nothing but what is of the strictest necessity. Above all 
things, let us maintain order, discipline, and obedience to 
the commanders, upon which our entire hope of safety 
depends. Let every man promise to lend his hand to the 
commanders in punishing any disobedient individuals ; and 
let us thus show the enemy that we have ten thousand 
persons like Klearchus, instead of that one whom they 
have so perfidiously seized. Now is the time for action. 
If any man, however obscure, has anything better to sug- 
gest, let him come forward and state it ; for we have all 
but one object — the common safety." 

It appears that no one else desired to say a word, and 
that the speech of Xenophon gave unqualified satisfaction ; 
for when Cheirisophus put the question, that the meeting 
should sanction his recommendations, and finally elect the 
new generals proposed — every man held up his hand. 
Xenophon then moved that the army should break up 
immediately, and march to some well-stored villages, rather 
more than two miles distant ; that the march should be in 
a hollow square, with the baggage in the centre ; that 
Cheirisophus, as a Lacedaemonian, should lead the van ; 
while Kleanor, and the other senior officers, would com^ 
mand on each flank, — and himself with Timasion, as the 
two youngest of the generals, would lead the rear guard. 

This proposition was at once adopted, and the assembly 
broke up ; proceeding forthwith to destroy, or distribute 
among one another, every man's superfluous baggage — 
and then to take their morning meal previous to the 
march. 

The scene just described is interesting and illustrative 
in more than one point of view. It exhibits that suscepti- 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 37 

bility to the influence of persuasive discourse which formed 
so marked a feature in the Grecian character — a resurrec- 
tion of the collective body out of the depth of despair, 
under the exhortation of one who had no established 
ascendency, nor anything to recommend him, except his 
intelligence, his oratorical power, and his community of 
interest with themselves. Next, it manifests, still more 
strikingly, the superiority of Athenian training as com- 
pared with that of other parts of Greece. Cheirisophus 
had not only been before in office as one of the generals, 
but was also a native of Sparta, whose supremacy and 
name was at that moment all-powerful ; Kleanor had been 
before, not indeed a general, but a captain, or one in the 
second rank of officers : — he was an elderly man — and 
he was an Arcadian, while more than the numerical half 
of the army consisted of Arcadians and Achaeans.^ Either 
of these two therefore, and various others besides, enjoyed 
a sort of prerogative, or established starting-point, for 
taking the initiative in reference to the dispirited army. 
But Xenophon was comparatively a young man, with little 
military experience : — -he was not an officer at all, either 
in the first or second grade, but simply a volunteer, com- 
panion of Proxenus : — he was moreover a native of Athens, 
a city at that time unpopular among the great body of 
Greeks, and especially of Peloponnesians,^ with whom her 
recent long war had been carried on. Not only therefore 
he had no advantages compared with others, but he was 

^ Achaeans : inhabitants of Achaia, in the Peloponnesian peninsula. 

2 Peloponnesians : inhabitants of the Greek peninsula of the Pelopon- 
nesus (or so-called Island of Pelops), now known as the Morea. They 
were considered the best soldiers in Greece. Sparta, the rival and enemy of 
Athens, was the ruling city of this district 



38 RETREAT OF THE 

under positive disadvantages. He had nothing to start 
with except his personal quaUties and previous training ; 
in spite of which we find him not merely the prime mover, 
but also the superior person for whom the others make 
way. In him are exemplified those peculiarities of Athens, 
attested not less by the denunciation of her enemies than 
by the panegyric of her own citizens, — spontaneous and 
forward impulse, as well in conception as in execution — 
confidence under circumstances which made others despair 
— persuasive discourse and publicity of discussion, made 
subservient to practical business, so as at once to appeal 
to the intelligence, and stimulate the active zeal, of the 
multitude. Such peculiarities stood out more remark- 
ably from being contrasted with the opposite qualities in 
Spartans — mistrust in conception, slackness in execution, 
secrecy in counsel, silent and passive obedience. Though 
Spartans and Athenians formed the two extremities of the 
scale, other Greeks stood nearer on this point to the former 
than to the latter. 

If, even in that encouraging autumn which follov/ed 
immediately upon the great Athenian catastrophe ^ before 
Syracuse, the inertia of Sparta could not be stirred into 
vigorous action without the vehemence of the Athenian 
Alkibiades — much more was it necessary, under the de- 
pressing circumstances which now overclouded the unofii- 
cered Grecian army, that an Athenian bosom should be 

1 Athenian catastrophe: in 415 B.C. the Athenians sent out a powerful 
expedition to conquer Syracuse in Sicily. They met with a disastrous defeat, 
both by land and sea, many thousands being taken captive and sold as slaves. 
Alkibiades, an Athenian who had taken refuge in Sparta, now urged the 
Spartans to attack Athens, their old rival and enemy. His vehement elo- 
quence was eventually successful. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 39 

found as the source of new life and impulse. Nor would 
any one, probably, except an Athenian, either have felt or 
obeyed the promptings to stand forward as a volunteer 
at that moment, when there was every motive to decline 
responsibility, and no special duty to impel him. But if 
by chance a Spartan or an Arcadian had been found thus 
forward, he would have been destitute of such talents as 
would enable him to work on the minds of others — of that 
flexibility, resource, familiarity with the temper and move- 
ments of an assembled crowd, power of enforcing the 
essential views and touching the opportune chords, which 
Athenian democratical training imparted. Even Brasidas 
and Gylippus, individual Spartans of splendid merit, and 
equal or superior to Xenophon in military resource, would 
not have combined with it that political and rhetorical 
accomplishment which the position of the latter demanded. 
Obvious as the wisdom of his propositions appears, each 
of them is left to him not only to initiate, but to enforce : 
Cheirisophus and Kleanor, after a few words of introduc- 
tion, consign to him the duty of working up the minds of 
the army to the proper pitch. 

How well he performed this, may be seen by his speech 
to the army, which bears in its general tenor a remarkable 
resemblance to that of Perikles^ addressed to the Athenian 
public in the second year of the war,^ at the nioment when 

1 Perikles : leader of the party of the people in Athens, and for a long 
time governor of the city; he was perhaps the greatest statesman that Greece 
produced. 

- The war: the Peloponnesian War, 431-404 B.C. This was a desperate 
struggle for supremacy between the two chief powers of Greece, Sparta and 
Athens. The Spartans werp a rough, military people, despising all intellectual 
culture and maintaining a narrow and tyrannical form of government from 
which the body of the people was wholly excluded. The Athenians, on the 



40 RETREAT OF THE 

the miseries of the epidemic, combined with those of inva- 
sion, had driven them ahiiost to despair. It breathes a 
strain of exaggerated confidence, and an undervaluing of 
real dangers, highly suitable for the occasion, but which 
neither Perikles nor Xenophon would have employed at 
any other moment. Throughout the whole of his speech, 
and especially in regard to the accidental sneeze near at 
hand which interrupted the beginning of it, Xenophon 
displayed that skill and practice in dealing with a numerous 
audience, and a given situation, which characterized more 
or less every educated Athenian. Other Greeks, Lacedae- 
monians or Arcadians, could act, with bravery and in con- 
cert ; but the Athenian Xenophon was among the few who 
could think, speak, and act, with equal efhciency. It was 
this threefold accomplishment which an aspiring youth was 
compelled to set before himself as an aim, in the democracy 
of Athens ; and which the Sophists^ as well as the demo- 
cratical institutions — both of them so hardly depreciated 
by most critics — helped and encouraged him to acquire. 
It was this threefold accomplishment, the exclusive posses- 
sion of which, in spite of constant jealousy on the part of 
Boeotian officers and comrades of Proxenus, elevated Xeno- 
phon into the most ascendent person of the Cyreian army, 

contrary, wished to maintain a republic in which all citizens should take part; 
they represented the highest civilization of Greece, and were in one sense the 
schoolmasters of the world. 

^ Sophists : a class of philosophers or teachers who gave instruction in 
rhetoric and the art of disputation. They went about from city to city, and, 
contrary to the general custom of Greek philosophers, took fees from their 
pupils. " What the Sophists, among other things conducive to success in life, 
really taught the people, was the art of conducting their own cases before 
the great citizen-juries, where every man was forced to be his own advocate." 
[See Myers's " Outlines of Ancient History."] 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 4 1 

from the present moment until the time when it broke up, 
— as will be seen in the subsequent history. 

I think it the more necessary to notice this fact, — 
that the accomplishments whereby Xenophon leaped on a 
sudden into such extraordinary ascendency, and rendered 
such eminent service to his army, were accomplishments 
belonging in an especial manner to the Athenian democ- 
racy and education — because Xenophon himself has 
throughout his writings treated Athens not merely with- 
out the attachment of a citizen, but with feelings more 
like the positive antipathy of an exile. His sympathies 
are all in favor of the perpetual drill, the mechanical 
obedience, the secret government proceedings, the narrow 
and prescribed range of ideas, the silent and deferential 
demeanor, the methodical, though tardy, action — of Sparta. 
Whatever may be the justice of his preference, certain it 
is, that the qualities whereby he was himself enabled to 
contribute so much both to the rescue of the Cyreian 
army, and to his own reputation — were Athenian far 
more than Spartan. 

While the Grecian army, after sanctioning the proposi- 
tions of Xenophon, were taking their morning meal before 
they commenced their march, Mithridates, one of the 
Persians previously attached to Cyrus, appeared with a 
few horsemen on a mission of pretended friendship. But 
it was soon found out that his purposes were treacherous, 
and that he came merely to seduce individual soldiers to 
desertion — with a few of whom he succeeded. Accord- 
ingly, the resolution was taken to admit no more heralds 
or envoys. 



42 RETREAT OF THE 

§ 6. The Greeks cross the Zab. 

Disembarrassed of superfluous baggage, and refreshed, 
the army now crossed the Great Zab River, and pursued 
their march on the other side, having their baggage and 
attendants in the centre, and Cheirisophus leading the 
van, with a select body of 300 heavy-armed foot-soldiers. 
As no mention is made of a bridge, we are to presume 
that they forded the river, — which furnishes a ford still 
commonly used, at a place between thirty and forty miles 
from its junction with the Tigris. When they had got a 
little way forward, Mithridates again appeared with a few 
hundred cavalry and bowmen. He approached them like 
a friend ; but as soon as he was near enough, suddenly 
began to harass the rear with a shower of missiles. What 
surprises us most, is, that the Persians, with their very 
numerous force, made no attempt to hinder them from 
crossing so very considerable a river ; for Xenophon esti- 
mates the Zab at 400 feet broad, — and this seems below 
the statement of modern travellers, who inform us that it 
contains not much less water than the Tigris ; and though 
usually deeper and narrower, cannot be much narrower at 
any fordable place. It is to be recollected that the Per- 
sians, habitually marching in advance of the Greeks, must 
have reached the river first, and were therefore in posses- 
sion of the crossing, whether bridge or ford. Though on 
the watch 'for every opportunity of perfidy, Tissaphernes 
did not dare to resist the Greeks, even in the most advan- 
tageous position, and ventured only upon sending Mithri- 
dates to harass the rear ; which he executed with consid- 
erable effect. The bowmen and darters of the Greeks, 
few in number, were at the same time inferior to those 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 43 

of the Persians ; and when Xenophon employed his rear- 
guard, heavy-armed foot-soldiers and light-armed foot-sol- 
diers, to charge and repel them, he not only could never 
overtake any one, but suffered much in getting back to 
rejoin his own main body. Even when retiring, the Per- 
sian horseman could discharge his arrow or cast his javelin ^ 
behind him with effect ; a dexterity which the Parthians 
exhibited afterwards still more signally, and which the 
Persian horsemen of the present day parallel with their 
carbines.^ This was the first experience which the Greeks 
had of marching under the harassing attack of cavalry. 
Even the small detachment of Mithridates greatly delayed 
their progress ; so that they accomplished little more than 
two miles, reaching" the villages in the evening, with many 
wounded, and much discouragement. 

"Thank Heaven " (said Xenophon in the evening, when 
Cheirisophus reproached him for imprudence in quitting 
the main body to charge cavalry, whom yet he could not 
reach), " Thank Heaven, that our enemies attacked us 
with a small detachment only, and not with their great 
numbers. They have given us a valuable lesson, without 
doing us any serious harm." Profiting by the lesson, the 
Greek leaders organized during the night and during the 
halt of the next day, a small body of fifty cavalry ; with 
200 Rhodian ^ slingers, whose slings, furnished with leaden 
bullets, both carried farther and struck harder than those 
of the Persians hurling large stones. On the ensuing 
morning, they started before daybreak, since there lay in 

^ Javelin : a light spear. 

2 Carbines : short muskets, or rifles. 

3 Rhodian : pertaining to the island of Rhodes, off the southwest coast 
of Asia Minor. 



44 RETREAT OF THE 

their way a ravine difficult to pass. They found the ravine 
undefended (according to the usual stupidity of Persian 
proceedings), but when they had got nearly a mile beyond 
it, Mithridates reappeared in pursuit with a body of 4000 
horsemen and darters. Confident from his achievement 
of the preceding day, he had promised, with a body of that 
force, to deliver the Greeks into the hands of the satrap. 
But the latter were now better prepared. As soon as he 
began to attack them, the trumpet sounded, — ^and forth- 
with the horsemen, slingers, and darters, issued forth to 
charge the Persians, sustained by the heavy-armed foot- 
soldiers in the rear. So effective was the charge, that the 
Persians fled in dismay, notwithstanding their superiority 
in number ; while the ravine so impeded their flight that 
many of them were slain, and eighteen prisoners made. 
The Greek soldiers of their own accord mutilated the dead 
bodies, in order to strike terror into the enemy. At the 
end of the day's march, they reached the Tigris, near the 
deserted city of Larissa, the vast, massive, and lofty brick 
walls of which (25 feet in thickness, 100 feet high, seven 
miles in circumference) attested its former grandeur. Near 
this place was a stone pyramid, 100 feet in breadth, and 
200 feet high ; the summit of which was crowded with 
fugitives out of the neighboring vihages. Another day's 
march up the course of the Tigris brought the army to a 
second deserted city called Mespila, nearly opposite to the 
modern city of Mosul. Although these two cities, which 
seem to have formed the continuation of (or the substitute 
for) the once colossal Nineveh ^ or Ninus, were completely 

1 Nineveh: "an exceeding great city" (Jonah iii. 3), larger, says Strabo, 
than Babylon, having walls with 1500 towers 200 feet high. (Diodorus.) 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 45 

deserted, — yet the country around them was so well fur- 
nished with villages and population, that the Greeks not 
only obtained provisions, but also strings for the making 
of new bows, and lead for bullets to be used by the 
slingers. 

During the next day's march, in a course generally par- 
allel with the Tigris, and ascending the stream, Tissa- 
phernes, coming up along with some other grandees, and 
with a numerous army, enveloped the Greeks both in flanks 
and rear. In spite of his advantage of numbers, he did 
not venture upon any actual charge, but kept up a fire 
of arrows, darts, and stones. He was however so well 
answered by the newly-trained archers and slingers of the 
Greeks, that on the whole they had the advantage, in spite 
of the superior size of the Persian bows, many of which 
were taken and effectively employed on the Grecian side. 
Having passed the night in a well-stocked village, they 
halted there the next day in order to stock themselves 
with provisions, and then pursued their march for four 
successive days along a level country, until on the fifth 
day they reached hilly ground with the prospect of still 
higher hills beyond. All this march was made under unre- 
mitting annoyance frorn the enemy, insomuch that though 
the order of the Greeks was never broken, a considerable 
number of their men were wounded. Experience taught 
them, that it was inconvenient for the whole army to 
march in one inflexible, undivided, hollow square ; and they 
accordingly constituted six regiments of lOO men each, 
subdivided into companies of 50, and smaller companies of 
25, each with a special officer (conformably to the Spartan 
practice) to move separately on each flank, and either to 
fall back, or fall in, as might suit the fluctuations of the 



46 RETREAT OF THE 

central mass, arising from impediments in the road or 
menaces of the enemy. On reaching the hills, in sight of 
an elevated citadel or palace, with several villages around 
it, the Greeks anticipated some remission of the Persian 
attack. But after having passed over one hill, they were 
proceeding to ascend the second, when they found them- 
selves assailed with unwonted vigor by the Persian cav- 
alry from the summit of it, whose leaders were seen 
flogging on the men to the attack. This charge was so 
efficacious, that the Greek light troops were driven in with 
loss, and forced to take shelter within the ranks of the 
heavy-armed foot-soldiers. After a march both slow and 
full of suffering, they could only reach their night-quarters 
by sending a detachment to get possession of some ground 
above the Persians, who thus became afraid of a double 
attack. 

The villages which they now reached were unusually 
rich in provisions ; magazines of flour, barley, and wine, 
having been collected there for the Persian satrap. They 
reposed here three days, chiefly in order to tend the numer- 
ous wounded, for whose necessities, eight of the most com- 
petent persons were singled out to act as surgeons. On 
the fourth day they resumed their' march, descending into 
the plain. But experience had now satisfied them that it 
was imprudent to continue in march under the attack of 
cavalry, so that when Tissaphernes appeared and began to 
harass them, they halted at the first village, and when thus 
in station, easily repelled him. As the afternoon advanced, 
the Persian assailants began to retire ; for they were always 
in the habit of taking up their night-post at a distance of 
near seven miles from the Grecian position ; being very 
apprehensive of nocturnal attack in their camp, when their 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 47 

horses were tied by the leg and without either saddle or 
bridle. As soon as they had departed, the Greeks resumed 
their march, and made so much advance during the night, 
that the Persians did not overtake them either on the next 
day or the day after. 

On the ensuing day, however, the Persians, having made 
a forced march by night, were seen not only in advance of 
the Greeks, but in occupation of a spur of high and precipi- 
tous ground overhanging immediately the road whereby 
the Greeks were to descend into the plain. When Cheiriso- 
phus approached, he at once saw that descent was imprac- 
ticable in the face of an enemy thus posted. He therefore 
halted, sent for Xenophon from the rear, and desired him 
to bring forward the light-armed foot-soldiers to the van. 
But Xenophon, though he obeyed the summons in person 
and galloped his horse to the front, did not think it prudent 
to move the light-armed foot-soldiers from the rear, because 
he saw Tissaphernes, with another portion of the army, 
just coming up ; so that the Grecian army was at once 
impeded in front, and threatened by the enemy closing 
upon them behind. The Persians on the high ground 
in front could not be directly assailed. But Xenophon 
observed, that on the right of the Grecian army, there was 
an accessible mountain summit yet higher, from whence a 
descent might be made for a flank attack upon the Persian 
position. Pointing out this summit to Cheirisophus, as 
affording the only means of dislodging the troops in front, 
he urged that one of them should immediately hasten with 
a detachment to take possession of it and offered to Chei- 
risophus the choice either of going, or staying with the 
army. " Choose for yourself," said Cheirisophus. "Well 
then (said Xenophon), I will go ; since I am the younger 



48 RETREAT OF THE 

of the two." Accordingly, at the head of a select detach- 
ment from the van and centre of the army, he immediately 
commenced his flank march up the steep ascent to this 
highest summit. So soon as the enemy saw their purpose, 
they also detached troops on their side, hoping to get to 
the summit first ; and the two detachments were seen 
mounting at the same time, each struggling with the 
utmost efforts to get before the other, — each being en- 
couraged by shouts and clamor from the two armies re- 
spectively. 

As Xenophon was riding by the side of his soldiers, 
cheering them on and reminding them that their chance of 
seeing their country and their families all depended upon 
success in the effort before them, a Sikyonian heavy-armed 
foot-soldier in the ranks, named Soteridas, said to him — 
" You and I are not on an equal footing, Xenophon. You 
are on horseback : — I am painfully struggling upon foot, 
with my shield to carry." Stung with this taunt, Xeno- 
phon sprang from his horse, pushed Soteridas out of his 
place in the ranks, took his shield as well as his place, and 
began to march forward afoot along with the rest. Though 
thus weighed down at once by the shield belonging to a 
heavy-armed foot-soldier, and by the heavy cuirass ^ of a 
horseman (who carried no shield), he nevertheless put forth 
all his strength to advance under such double incumbrance, 
and to continue his incitement to the rest. But the sol- 
diers around him were so indignant at the proceeding of 
Soteridas, that they reproached and even struck him, until 
they compelled him to resume his shield as well as his 
place in the ranks. Xenophon then remounted and 
ascended the hill on horseback as far as the ground per- 
1 Cuirass : defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 49 

mitted ; but was obliged again to dismount presently, in 
consequence of the steepness of the uppermost portion. 
Such energetic efforts enabled him and his detachment to 
reach the summit first. As soon as the enemy saw this, 
they desisted from their ascent, and dispersed in all direc- 
tions ; leaving the forward march open to the main Grecian 
army, which Cheirisophus accordingly conducted safely 
down into the plain. Here he was rejoined by Xenophon 
on descending from the summit. All found themselves in 
comfortable quarters, amidst several well-stocked villages 
on the banks of the Tigris. They acquired moreover an 
additional booty of large droves of cattle, intercepted when 
on the point of being transported across the river ; where 
a considerable body of horse was seen assembled on the 
opposite bank. 

Though here disturbed only by some desultory attacks 
on the part of the Persians, who burnt several of the vil- 
lages which lay in their forward line of march, the Greeks 
became seriously embarrassed whither to direct their steps ; 
for on their left flank was the Tigris, so deep that their 
spears found no bottom, — and on their right, mountains 
of exceeding height. As the generals and the captains 
were taking counsel, a Rhodian soldier came to them with 
a proposition for transporting the whole army across to the 
other bank of the river by means of inflated skins, which 
could be furnished in abundance by the animals in their 
possession. But this ingenious scheme, in itself feasible, 
was put out of the question by the view of the Persian cav- 
alry on the opposite bank ; and as the villages in their 
front had been burnt, the army had no choice except to 
return back one day's march to those in which they had 
before halted. Here the generals again deliberated, ques- 



50 RETREAT OF THE 

tioning all their prisoners as to the different bearings of the 
country. The road from the south was that in which they 
had already marched from Babylon and Media ; that to the 
westward, going to Lydia and Ionia, was barred to them 
by the interposing Tigris ; eastward (they were informed) 
was the way to Ekbatana and Susa; northward, lay the 
rugged and inhospitable mountains of the Karduchians, — 
fierce freemen who despised the Great King, and defied 
all his efforts to conquer them ; having once destroyed a 
Persian invading army of 120,000 men. On the other side 
of Karduchia, however, lay the rich Persian satrapy of 
Armenia, wherein both the Euphrates and the Tigris 
could be crossed near their sources, and from whence they 
could choose their farther course easily towards Greece. 
Like Mysia, Pisidia, and other mountainous regions, Kar- 
duchia was a free territory surrounded on all sides by the 
dominions of the Great King, who reigned only in the 
cities and on the plains. 

§ 7. The Greeks fight their way across the Karduchian 
mountains. 

Determining to fight their way across these difficult 
mountains into Armenia, but refraining from any public 
announcement, for fear that the passes should be occupied 
beforehand — the generals sacrificed ^ forthwith, in order 
that they might be ready for breaking up at a moment's 
notice. They then began their march a little after mid- 
night, so that soon after daybreak they reached the first of 
the Karduchian mountain-passes, which they found unde- 

1 Sacrificed : not only to propitiate the gods, but to obtain omens or 
signs for their future guidance. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. $1 

fended. Cheirisophus, with his front division and all the 
light troops, made haste to ascend the pass, and having got 
over the first mountain, descended on the other side to some 
villages in the valley or nooks beneath ; while Xenophon, 
with the heavy-armed and the baggage, followed at a slower 
pace, — not reaching the 'villages until dark, as the road 
was both steep and narrow. The Karduchians, taken 
completely by surprise, abandoned the villages as the 
Greeks approached, and took refuge on the mountains ; 
leaving to the intruders plenty of provisions, comfortable 
houses, and especially, abundance of copper vessels. At 
first the Greeks were careful to do no damage, trying to 
invite the natives to amicable colloquy. But none of the 
latter would come near, and at length necessity drove the 
Greeks to take what was necessary for refreshment. It 
was just when Xenophon and the rear-guard were coming 
in at night, that some few Karduchians first set upon 
them ; by surprise and with considerable success — so that 
if their numbers had been greater, serious mischief might 
have ensued. 

Many fires were discovered burning on the mountains, an 
indication of resistance during the next day ; which satis- 
fied the Greek generals that they must lighten the army, 
in order to ensure greater expedition as well as a fuller 
complement of available hands during the coming march. 
They therefore gave orders to burn all the baggage except ^ 
what was indispensable, and to dismiss all the prisoners ; 
planting themselves in a narrow strait, through which the 
army had to pass, in order to see that their directions were 
executed. The women, however, of whom there were, 
many with the army, could not be abandoned ; and it 
seems farther that a considerable stock of baggage was 



52 RETREAT OF THE 

Still retained : nor could the army make more than slow 
advance, from the narrowness of the road and the harass- 
ing attack of the Karduchians, who were now assembled 
in considerable numbers. Their attack was renewed with 
double vigor on the ensuing day, when the Greeks were 
forced, from want of provisions, to hasten forward their 
march, though in the midst of a terrible snowstorm. 
Both Cheirisophus in the front and Xenophon in the rear, 
were hard pressed by the Karduchian slingers and bow- 
men ; the latter, men of consummate skill, having bows 
three cubits ^ in length, and arrows of more than two cu- 
bits, so strong that the Greeks when they took them could 
dart them as javelins. These archers, amidst the rugged 
ground and narrow paths, approached so near and drew 
the bow with such surprising force, resting one extremity 
of it on the ground, that several Greek warriors were mor- 
tally wounded even through both shield and corselet ^ into 
the reins,^ and through the brazen helmet into their 
heads ; among them especially, two distinguished men, a 
Lacedaemonian named Kleonymus and an Arcadian named 
Basias. The rear division, more roughly handled than the 
rest, was obliged continually to halt to repel the enemy, 
under all the difficulties of the ground, which made it 
scarcely possible to act against nimble mountaineers. On 
one occasion, however, a body of these latter were en- 
trapped into an ambush, driven back with loss, and (what 
was still more fortunate) two of their number were made 
prisoners. 

^ Cubit: a measure of length; the distance from the elbow to the end of 
the middle finger, or about eighteen inches. 

2 Corselet : armor covering the front of the upper part of the body. 
^ Reins : the small of the back, or the kidneys. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 53 

Thus impeded, Xenophon sent frequent messages en- 
treating Cheirisophus to slacken the march of the van 
division ; but instead of obeying, Cheirisophus only has- 
tened the faster, urging Xenophon to follow him. The 
march of the army became little better than a rout, so that 
the rear division reached the halting place in extreme con- 
fusion ; upon which Xenophon proceeded to remonstrate 
with Cheirisophus for prematurely hurrying forward and 
neglecting his comrades behind. But the other — pointing 
out to his attention the hill before them, and the steep 
path ascending it, forming their future line of march, 
which was beset with numerous Karduchians — defended 
himself by saying that he had hastened forward in hopes 
of being able to reach this pass before the enemy, in which 
attempt however he had not succeeded. 

To advance farther on this road appeared hopeless ; yet 
the guides declared that no other could be taken. Xeno- 
phon then bethought him of the two prisoners whom he 
had just captured, and proposed that these two should be 
questioned also. They were accordingly interrogated apart ; 
and the first of them — having persisted in denying, not- 
withstanding all menaces, that there was any road except 
that before them — was put to death under the eyes of the 
second prisoner. This latter, on being then questioned, 
gave more comfortable intelligence ; saying that he knew 
of a different road, more circuitous, but easier and practi- 
cable even for beasts of burden, whereby the pass before 
them and the occupying enemy might be turned ; but that 
there was one particular high position commanding the 
road, which it was necessary to master beforehand by sur- 
prise, as the Karduchians were already on guard there. 
Two thousand Greeks, having the guide bound along with 



54 RETREAT OF THE 

them, were accordingly despatched late in the afternoon, 
to surprise this post by a nightmarch ; while Xenophon, 
in order to distract the attention of the Karduchians in 
front, made a feint of advancing as if about to force the 
direct pass. As soon as he was seen crossing the ravine 
which led to this mountain, the Karduchians on the top 
immediately began to roll down vast masses of rock, which 
bounded and dashed down the roadway in such a manner 
as to render it unapproachable. They continued to do this 
all night, and the Greeks heard the noise of the descend- 
ing masses long after they had returned to their camp for 
supper and rest. 

Meanwhile the detachment of 2000, marching by the 
circuitous road, and reaching in the night the elevated 
position (though there was another above yet more com- 
manding) held by the Karduchians, surprised and dispersed 
them, passing the night by their fires. At daybreak, and 
under favor of a mist, they stole silently towards the posi- 
tion occupied by the other Karduchians in front of the 
main Grecian army. On coming near they suddenly 
sounded their trumpets, shouted aloud, and commenced the 
attack, which proved completely successful. The defend- 
ers, taken unprepared, fled with little resistance, and 
scarcely any loss, from their activity and knowledge of the 
country ; while Cheirisophus and the main Grecian force, 
on hearing the trumpet which had been previously con- 
certed as the signal, rushed forward and stormed the 
height in front ; some along the regular path ; others 
climbing up as they could and pulling each other up by 
means of their spears. The two bodies of Greeks thus 
joined each other on the summit, so that the road became 
open for farther advance. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 55 

Xenophon, however, with the rear-guard marched on the 
circuitous road taken by the 2000, as the most practicable 
for the baggage animals, whom he placed in the centre of 
his division — the whole array covering a great length of 
ground, since the road was very narrow. During this 
interval the dispersed Karduchians had rallied, and reoccu- 
pied two or three high peaks, commanding the road — 
from whence it was necessary to drive them. Xenophon's 
troops stormed successively these three positions, the 
Karduchians not daring to come to close combat, yet mak- 
ing destructive use of their missiles. A Grecian guard 
was left on the hindermost of the three peaks, until all the 
baggage train should have passed by. But the Karduchians, 
by a sudden and well-timed movement, contrived to sur- 
prise this guard, slew two out of the three leaders with 
several soldiers, and forced the rest to jump down the 
crags as they could, in order to join their comrades in the 
road. Encouraged by such success the assailants pressed 
nearer to the marching army, occupying a crag over 
against that lofty summit on which Xenophon was posted. 
As it was within speaking distance, he endeavored to open 
a negotiation with them in order to get back the bodies 
of the slain. To this demand the Karduchians at first 
acceded, on condition that their villages should not be 
burnt ; but finding their numbers every moment increas- 
ing, they resumed the offensive. When Xenophon with 
the army had begun his descent from the last summit, 
they hurried onward in crowds to occupy it ; beginning 
again to roll down masses of rock, and renew their fire of 
missiles, upon the Greeks. Xenophon himself was here 
in some danger, having been deserted by his shield-bearer ; 
but he was rescued by an Arcadian heavy-armed foot- 



56 RETREAT OF THE 

soldier named Eurylochus, who ran to give him the benefit 
of his own shield as a protection for both in the retreat. 

After a march thus painful and perilous, the rear division 
at length found themselves in safety among their comrades, 
in villages with well-stocked houses and abundance of corn 
and wine. So eager however were Xenophon and Cheiriso- 
phus to obtain the bodies of the slain for burial, that they 
consented to purchase them by surrendering the guide, and 
to march onward without any guide : a heavy sacrifice in 
this unknown country, attesting their great anxiety about 
the burial.^ 

For three more days did they struggle and fight their 
way through the narrow and rugged paths of the Kardu- 
chian mountains, beset throughout by these formidable 
bowmen and slingers ; whom they had to dislodge at every 
difificult turn, and against whom their own Kretan^ bowmen 
were found inferior indeed, but still highly useful. Their 
seven days' march through this country, with its free and 
warlike inhabitants, were days of the utmost fatigue, suffer- 
ing, and peril ; far more intolerable than any thing which 
they had experienced from Tissaphernes and the Persians. 
Right glad were they once more to see a plain, and to find 
themselves near the banks of the river Kentrites, which 
divided these mountains from the hillocks and plains of 
Armenia — enjoying comfortable quarters in villages, with 
the satisfaction of talking over past miseries. 

Such were the apprehensions of Karduchian invasion, 
that the Armenian side of the Kentrites for a breadth of 
1 5 miles was unpeopled and destitute of villages. But the 

1 Burial : the Greeks believed that so long as the corpse remained un- 
buried the spirit would roam about restlessly in the dreary under-world or 
common abode of departed souls. 2 Kretan : or Cretan (from Crete). 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 57 

approach of the Greeks having become known to Tiribazus, 
satrap of Armenia, the banks of the river were lined with 
his cavalry and infantry to oppose their passage ; a pre- 
caution, which if Tissaphernes had taken at the Great Zab 
at the moment when he perfidiously seized Klearchus and 
his colleagues, the Greeks would hardly have reached the 
northern bank of that river. In the face of such obstacles, 
the Greeks nevertheless attempted the passage of the 
Kentrites, seeing a regular road on the other side. But 
the river was 200 feet in breadth (only half the breadth of 
the Zab), above their breasts in depth, extremely rapid, 
and with a bottom full of slippery stones ; insomuch that 
they could not hold their shields in the proper position, 
from the force of the stream ; while if they lifted the shields 
above their heads, they were exposed defenceless to the 
arrows of the satrap's troops. After various trials, the 
passage was found impracticable, and they were obliged to 
resume their encampment on the left bank. To their great 
alarm, they saw the Karduchians assembling on the hills 
in their rear, so that their situation, during this day and 
night, appeared nearly desperate. In the night Xenophon 
had a dream — the first which he has told us since his 
dream on the terrific night after the seizure of the generals 
— but on this occasion, of augury^ more unequivocally 
good. He dreamt that he was bound in chains, but that 
his chains on a sudden dropt off spontaneously ; on the 
faith of which, he told Cheirisophus at daybreak that he 
had good hopes of preservation ; and when the generals 
offered sacrifice, the victims were at once favorable. As 
the army were taking their morning meal, two young 
Greeks ran to Xenophon with the auspicious news that 

^ Augury : omen or sign. 



58 RETREAT OF THE 

they had accidentally found another ford near half a mile 
up the river, where the water was not even up to their 
middle, and where the rocks came so close on the right 
bank that the enemy's horse could offer no opposition. 
Xenophon, starting from his meal in delight, immediately 
offered libations ^ to those gods who had revealed both the 
dream to himself in the night, and the unexpected ford 
afterwards to these youths ; two revelations which he as- 
cribed to the same gods. 

Presently they marched in their usual order, Cheirisophus 
commanding the van and Xenophon the rear, along the 
river to the newly -discovered ford ; the enemy marching 
parallel with them on the opposite bank. Having reached 
the ford, halted, and grounded arms, Cheirisophus placed a 
wreath on his head, took off his clothes, and then resumed 
his arms, ordering all the rest to resume their arms also. 
Each company of lOO men was then arranged in column 
or single file, with Cheirisophus himself in the centre. 
Meanwhile the prophets were offering sacrifice to the river. 
So soon as the signs were pronounced to be favorable, all 
the soldiers shouted the paean, and all the women joined 
in chorus with their feminine yell. Cheirisophus then, at 
the head of the army, entered the river and began to ford 
it ; while Xenophon, with a large portion of the rear divis- 
ion, made a feint of hastening back to the original ford, 
as if he were about to attempt the passage there. This 
distracted the attention of the enemy's horse ; who became 
afraid of being attacked on both sides, galloped off to guard 
the passage at the other point, and opposed no serious re- 
sistance to Cheirisophus. As soon as the latter had reached 

1 Libations : wine or liquor poured out on the ground or on a victim in 
honor of the gods. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 59 

the Other side, and put his division into order, he marched 
up to attack the Armenian infantry, who were on the high 
banks a little way above ; but this infantry, deserted by its 
cavalry, dispersed without awaiting his approach. The 
handful of Grecian cavalry, attached to the division of 
Cheirisophus, pursued and took some valuable spoils. 

As soon as Xenophon saw his colleague successfully 
established on the opposite bank, he brought back his 
detachment to the ford over which the baggage and at- 
tendants were still passing, and proceeded to take precau- 
tions against the Karduchians on his own side who were 
assembling in the rear. He found some difficulty in keep- 
ing his rear division together, for many of them, in spite 
of orders, quitted their ranks and went to look after the 
women or their baggage in the crossing of the water. The 
light-armed foot-soldiers and bowmen, who had gone over 
with Cheirisophus, but whom that general now no longer 
needed, were directed to hold themselves prepared on both 
flanks of the army crossing, and to advance a little way 
in the water in the attitude of men just about to recross. 
When Xenophon was left with only the diminished rear- 
guard, the rest having got over, — the Karduchians rushed 
upon him, and began to shoot and sling. But on a sud- 
den, the Grecian heavy-armed foot-soldiers charged with 
their accustomed paean, upon which the Karduchians took 
to flight — having no arms for close combat on the plain. 
The trumpet now being heard to sound, they ran away so 
much the faster ; while this was the signal, according to 
orders before given by Xenophon, for the Greeks to sus- 
pend their charge, to turn back, and to cross the river as 
speedily as possible. By favor of this able manoeuvre, the 
passage was accomplished by the whole army with little or 
no loss, about midday. 



6o RETREAT OF THE 



§ 8. March through Armenia. Great suffering from cold 
and hunger. 

They now found themselves in Armenia ; a country of 
even, undulating surface, but very high above the level of 
the sea, and extremely cold at the season when they en- 
tered it — December. Though the strip of land bordering 
on Karduchia furnished no supplies, one long march brought 
them to a village, containing abundance of provisions, 
together with a residence of the satrap Tiribazus ; after 
which, in two farther marches they reached the river Tele- 
boas, with many villages on its banks. Here Tiribazus 
himself, appearing with a division of cavalry, sent forward 
his interpreter to request a conference with the leaders ; 
which being held, it was agreed that the Greeks should 
proceed unmolested through his territory, taking such 
supplies as they required, — but should neither burn nor 
damage the villages. They accordingly advanced onward 
for three days, computed at about 52 miles, or three 
pretty full days' march ; without any hostility from the 
satrap, though he was hovering within less than two miles 
of them. They then found themselves amidst several vil- 
lages, wherein were regal or satrapical residences with a 
plentiful stock of bread, meat, wine, and all sorts of vege- 
tables. Here, during their nightly bivouac,^ they were 
overtaken by so heavy a fall of snow that the generals on 
the next day distributed the troops into separate quarters 
among the villages. No enemy appeared near, while the 
snow seemed to forbid any rapid surprise. Yet at night, 

1 Bivouac (biv-wak') : an encampment without tents or shelter, or one 
in which the whole army is on guard against surprise; here, the former is 
probably meant. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 6 1 

the scouts reported that many fires were discernible, to- 
gether with traces of miUtary movements around ; inso- 
much that the generals thought it prudent to put themselves 
on their guard, and again collected the army into one biv- 
ouac. Here in the night they were overwhelmed by a 
second fall of snow still heavier than the preceding ; suffi- 
cient to cover over the sleeping men and their arms, and 
to benumb the cattle. The men however lay warm under 
the snow and were unwilling to rise, until Xenophon him- 
self set the example of rising and employing himself with- 
out his arms in cutting wood and kindling a fire. Others 
followed his example, and great comfort was found in rub-, 
bing themselves with pork-fat, oil of almonds or of sesame,^ 
or turpentine. Having sent out a clever scout named 
Demokrates, who captured a native prisoner, they learned 
that Tiribazus was laying plans to intercept them in a lofty 
mountain pass lying farther on in their route ; upon which 
they immediately set forth, and by two days of forced 
march, surprising in their way the camp of Tiribazus, got 
over the difficult pass in safety. Three days of additional 
march brought them to the Euphrates river — that is, to 
its eastern branch, now called Murad. They found a ford 
and crossed it, without having the water higher than the 
waist ; and they were informed that its sources were not 
far off. 

Their four days of march, next on the other side of the 
Euphrates, were toilsome and distressing in the extreme ; 
through a plain covered with deep snow (in some places 
six feet deep), and at times in the face of a north wind so 
intolerably chilling and piercing, that at length one of the 

^ Sesame : an Eastern plant from whose seeds an oil is obtained, which is 
used for food and other j>urposes. 



62 RETREAT OF THE 

prophets urged the necessity of offering sacrifices to 
Boreas ^ ; upon which (says Xenophon), the severity of the 
wind abated conspicuously, to the evident consciousness of 
all. Many of the slaves and beasts of burthen, and a few 
even of the soldiers, perished : some had their feet frost- 
bitten, others became blinded by the snow, others again 
were exhausted by hunger. Several of these unhappy men 
were unavoidably left behind ; others lay down to perish, 
near a warm spring which had melted the snow around, 
from extremity of fatigue and sheer wretchedness, though 
the enemy were close upon the rear. It was in vain that 
Xenophon, who commanded the rear-guard, employed his 
earnest exhortations, prayers, and threats, to induce them 
to move forward. The sufferers, miserable and motion- 
less, answered only by entreating him to kill them at once. 
So greatly was the army disorganized by wretchedness, 
that we hear of one case in which a soldier, ordered to 
carry a disabled comrade, disobeyed the order, and was 
about to bury him alive. Xenophon made a sally, with 
loud shouts and clatter of spear with shield, in which even 
the exhausted men joined, — against the pursuing enemy. 
He was fortunate enough to frighten them away, and drive 
them to take shelter in a neighboring wood. He then left 
the sufferers lying down, with assurance that relief should 
be sent to them on the next day, — and went forward ; 
seeing all along the line of march the exhausted soldiers 
lying on the snow, without even the protection of a watch. 
He and his rear-guard as well as the rest were obUged thus 
to pass the night without either food or fire, distributing 
scouts in the best way that the case admitted. Meanwhile 
Cheirisophus with the van division had got into a village, 

1 Boreas : the god of the north wind. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 63 

which they reached so unexpectedly, that they found the 
women fetching water from a fountain outside the wall, 
and the head-man of the village in his house within. This 
division here obtained rest and refreshment, and at day- 
break some of their soldiers were sent to look after the 
rear. It was with delight that Xenophon saw them ap- 
proach, and sent them back to bring up in their arms, into 
the neighboring village, those exhausted soldiers who had 
been left behind. 

Repose was now indispensable after the recent suffer- 
ings. There were several villages near at hand, and the 
generals, thinking it no longer dangerous to divide the 
army, quartered the different divisions among them accord- 
ing to lot. Polykrates an Athenian, one of the captains in 
the division of Xenophon, requested his permission to go 
at once and take possession of the village assigned to 
him, before any of the inhabitants could escape. Accord- 
ingly, running at speed with a few of the swiftest soldiers, 
he came upon the village so suddenly as to seize the head- 
man with his newly-married daughter, and several young 
horses intended as a tribute for the king. This village, as ^ 
well as the rest, was found to consist of houses excavated 
in the ground (as the Armenian villages are at the present 
day), spacious within, but with a narrow mouth like a well, 
entered by a descending ladder. A separate entrance was 
dug for conveniently admitting the cattle. All of them 
were found amply stocked with live cattle of every kind, 
wintered upon hay ; as well as with wheat, barley, vegeta- 
bles, and a sort of \ barley -wine or beer in tubs, with the ^ 
grains of barley on the surface. Reeds or straws without 
any joint in them, were lying near, through which they 
sucked the liquid : Xenophon did his utmost to conciliate 



64 RETREAT OF THE 

the head-man (who spoke Persian, and with whom he com- 
municated through the Perso-Grecian interpreter of the 
army), promising him that not one of his relations should 
be maltreated, and that he should be fully remunerated if 
he would conduct the army safely out of the country, into 
that of the Chalybes which he described as being adjg,cent. 
By such treatment the head-man was won over, promised 
his aid, and even revealed to the Greeks the subterranean 
cellars wherein the wine was deposited ; while Xenophon, 
though he kept him constantly under watch, and placed 
his youthful son as a hostage under the care of Episthenes, 
yet continued to treat him with studied attention and 
kindness. For seven days did the fatigued soldiers remain 
in these comfortable quarters, refreshing themselves and 
regaining strength. They were waited upon by the native 
youths, with whom they communicated by means of signs. 
The uncommon happiness which all of them enjoyed after 
their recent sufferings, stands depicted in the lively details 
given by Xenophon, who left here his own exhausted 
horse, and took young horses in exchange, for himself and 
the other officers. 

After this week of repose, the army resumed its march 
through the snow. The head-man, whose house they had 
replenished as well as they could, accompanied Cheirisophus 
in the van as guide, but was not put in chains or under 
guard : his son remained as an hostage with Episthenes, 
but his other relations were left unmolested at home. As 
they marched for three days, without reaching a village, 
Cheirisophus began to suspect his fidelity, and even became 
so out of humor, though the man affirmed that there were 
no villages in the track, as to beat him — yet without the 
precaution of putting him afterwards in fetters. The next 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 65 

night, accordingly, this head-man made his escape ; much 
to the displeasure of Xenophon, who severely reproached 
Cheirisophus first for his harshness, and next for his neglect. 
This was the only point of difference between the two (says 
Xenophon) during the whole march ; a fact very honorable 
to both, considering the numberless difficulties against 
which they had to contend. Episthenes retained the head- 
man's youthful son, carried him home in safety, and became 
much attached to him. 

Condemned thus to march without a guide, they could 
do no better than march up the course of the river ; and 
thus, from the villages which had proved so cheering and 
restorative, they proceeded seven days' march all through 
snow, up the river Phasis ; a river not verifiable, but cer- 
tainly not the same as is commonly known under that name 
by Grecian geographers : it was 100 feet in breadth. Two 
more days' march brought them from this river to the foot 
of a range of mountains near a pass occupied by an armed 
body of Chalybes, Taochi, and Phasiani. 

Observing the enemy in possession of this lofty ground, 
Cheirisophus halted until all the army came up, in order 
that the generals might take counsel. Here Kleanor began 
by advising that they should storm the pass with no greater 
delay than was necessary to refresh the soldiers. But 
Xenophon suggested that it was far better to avoid the 
loss of life which must be incurred, and to amuse the 
enemy by feigned attack, while a detachment should be 
sent by stealth at night to ascend the mountain at another 
point and turn the position. " However (continued he, ' 
turning to Cheirisophus), stealing a march upon the enemy 
is more your trade than mine. For I understand that you ' 
the full citizens and peers at Sparta, practise stealing from 



66 RETREAT OF THE 

your boyhood upward ; and that it is held noway base, but 
even honorable, to steal such things as the law does not 
distinctly forbid. And to the end that you may steal with 
the greatest effect, and take pains to do it in secret, the 
custom is, to flog you if you are found out. Here then, 
you have an excellent opportunity of displaying your train- 
ing. Take good care that we be not found out in stealing 
an occupation of the mountain now before us ; for if we 
are found out, we shall be well beaten." 

" Why, as for that (replied Cheirisophus), you Athenians 
also, as I learn, are capital hands at stealing the public 
money — and that too in spite of prodigious peril to the 
thief : nay, your most powerful men steal most of all — at 
least if it be the most powerful men among you who are 
raised to official command. So that this is a time iox you 
to exhibit _yc?/r training, as well as for me to exhibit mine." 

We have here an interchange of raillery between the 
two Grecian officers, which is not an uninteresting feature 
in the history of the expedition. The remark of Cheiriso- 
phus, especially, illustrates that which I noted in a former 
chapter as true both of Sparta and Athens — the readiness 
to take bribes, so general in individuals clothed with official 
power ; and the readiness, in official Athenians, to commit 
such peculation, in spite of serious risk of punishment. 
Now this chance of punishment proceeded altogether from 
those accusing orators commonly called demagogues,^ and 
from the popular judicature whom they addressed. The 
joint working of both greatly abated the evil, yet was 

1 Demagogues : leaders of the people, popular orators. (The word now 
means those who mislead the people or who pretend to be interested in public 
affairs and reforms merely to gain their own ends.) In Greece fhese orators 
usually addressed assemblies or bodies of citizens who acted as judges. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 6/ 

incompetent to suppress it. But according to the pictures 
commonly drawn of Athens, we are instructed to believe 
that the crying public evil was, — too great a license of 
accusation, and too much judicial trial. Assuredly such 
was not the conception of Cheirisophus ; nor shall we find 
it borne out by any fair appreciation of the general evi- 
dence. When the peculation of official persons was thus 
notorious in spite of serious risks, what would it have be- 
come if the door had been barred to accusing demagogues, 
and if the numerous popular judges^ had been exchanged 
for a select few judges of the same stamp and class as the 
official men themselves .-' 

Enforcing his proposition, Xenophon now informed his 
colleagues that he had just captured a few guides, by laying 
an ambush for certain native plunderers who beset the 
rear ; and that these guides acquainted him that the moun- 
tain was not inaccessible, but pastured by goats and oxen. 
He farther offered himself to take command of the march- 
ing detachment. But this being overruled by Cheirisophus, 
some of the best among the captains, Aristonymus, Aris- 
teas, and Nikomachus, volunteered their services and were 
accepted. After refreshing the soldiers, the generals 
marched with the main army near to the foot of the pass, 
and there took up their night-station, making demonstra- 
tions of a purpose to storm it the next morning. But as 
soon as it was dark, Aristonymus and his detachment 
started, and ascending the mountain at another point, 
obtained without resistance a high position on the flank of 
the enemy, who soon however saw them and despatched a 

1 Judges (dicasts) : these sometimes, as in the case of the tiial of Socra- 
tes, numbered five and six hundred persons, who acted as judge and jury 
combined. 



68 RETREAT OF THE 

force to keep guard on that side. At daybreak those two 
detachments came to conflict on the heights, in which the 
Greeks were completely victorious ; while Cheirisophus 
was marching up the pass to attack the main body. His 
light troops, encouraged by seeing this victory of their 
comrades, hastened on to the charge faster than their 
heavy-armed foot-soldiers could follow. But the enemy 
were so dispirited by seeing themselves turned, that they 
fled with little or no resistance. Though only a few were 
slain, many threw away their light shields of wicker or 
wood-work, which became the prey of the conquerors. 

Thus masters of the pass, the Greeks descended to the 
level ground on the other side, where they found them- 
selves in some villages well-stocked with provisions and 
comforts ; the first in the country of the Taochi. Proba- 
bly they halted here some days ; for they had seen no vil- 
lages, either for rest or for refreshment, during the last 
nine days' march, since leaving those Armenian villages in 
which they had passed a week so eminently restorative, 
and which apparently had furnished them with a stock of 
provisions for the onward journey. Such halt gave time 
to the Taochi to carry up their families and provisions into 
inaccessible strongholds, so that the Greeks found no sup- 
plies, during five days' march through the territory. Their 
provisions Were completely exhausted, when they arrived 
before one of these strongholds, a rock on which were seen 
the families and the cattle of the Taochi ; without houses 
or fortification, but nearly surrounded by a river, so as to 
leave only one narrow ascent, rendered unapproachable by 
vast rocks which the defenders hurled or rolled from the 
summit. By an ingenious combination of bravery and 
stratagem, in which some of the captains much distin- 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 69 

guished themselves, the Greeks overcame this difficulty, 
and took the height. The scene which then ensued was y* 
awful. The Taochian women seized their children, flung 
them over the precipice, and then cast themselves head- 
long also, followed by the men. Almost every soul thus 
perished, very few surviving to become prisoners. An 
Arcadian captain named ^neas, seeing one of them in a 
fine dress about to precipitate himself with the rest, seized 
him with a view to prevent it. But the man in return 
grasped him firmly, dragged him to the edge of the rock, 
and leaped down to the destruction of both. Though 
scarcely any prisoners were taken, however, the Greeks 
obtained abundance of oxen, asses, and sheep, which fully 
supplied their wants. 

They now entered into the territory of the Chalybes, 
which they were seven days in passing through. These 
were the bravest warriors whom they had seen in Asia. 
Their equipment was a spear of fifteen cubits long, with 
only one end pointed — a helmet, greaves,^ stuffed corselet, 
with a kilt or dependent flaps — a short sword which they 
employed to cut off the head of a slain enemy, displaying 
the head in sight of their surviving enemies with trium- 
phant dance and song. They carried no shield ; perhaps 
because the excessive length of the spear required the 
constant employment of both hands — yet they did not 
shrink from meeting the Greeks occasionally in regular, 
stand-up fight. As they had carried off all their provisions 
into hill-forts, the Greeks could obtain no supplies, but 
lived all the time upon the cattle which they had acquired 
from the Taochi. After seven days of march and combat 
— the Chalybes perpetually attacking their rear — they 

'^ Greaves : armor for the front of the lower part of the- leg. 



/O RETREAT OF THE 

reached the river Harpasus (400 feet broad), where they 
passed into the territory of the Skythini. It rather seems 
that the territory of the Chalybes was mountainous ; that 
of the Skythini was level, and contained villages, wherein 
they remained three days, refreshing themselves, and stock- 
ing themselves with provisions. 

§ 9. The Greeks come in sight of the Black Sea. 

Four days of additional march brought them to a sight, 
the like of which they had not seen since Opis and Sittake 
on the Tigris in Babylonia — a large and flourishing city 
called Gymnias ; an indication of the neighborhood of the 
sea, of commerce, and of civilization. The chief of this 
city received them in a friendly manner, and furnished 
them with a guide, who engaged to conduct them, after 
five days' march, to a hill from whence they would have a 
view of the sea. This was by no means their nearest way 
to the sea, for the chief of Gymnias wished to send them 
through the territory of some neighbors to whom he was 
hostile ; which territory, as soon as they reached it, the 
guide desired them to burn and destroy. However, the 
promise was kept, and on the fifth day, marching still 
apparently through the territory of the Skythini, they 
reached the summit of a mountain called Theches, from 
whence the Euxine Sea was visible. 

An animated shout from the soldiers who formed the 
van-guard testified the impressive effect of this long- 
deferred spectacle, assuring, as it seemed to do, their safety 
and their return home. To Xenophon and to the rear- 
guard — engaged in repelling the attack of natives who 
had come forward to revenge the plunder of their territory 
— the shout was unintelhgible. They at first imagined 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 7 1 

that the natives had commenced attack in front as well as 
in the rear, and that the van-guard was engaged in battle. 
But every moment the shout became louder, as fresh men 
came to the summit and gave vent to their feelings ; so 
that Xenophon grew anxious, and galloped up to the van 
with his handful of cavalry to see what had happened. 
As he approached, the voice of the overjoyed crowd was 
heard distinctly crying out TJialatta ! TJialatta ! ( The sea ! 
the sea !), and congratulating each other in ecstasy. The 
main body, the rear-guard, the baggage-soldiers driving up 
their horses and cattle before them, became all excited by 
the sound, and hurried up breathless to the summit. The 
whole army, officers and soldiers, were thus assembled, 
manifesting their joyous emotions by tears, embraces, and 
outpourings of enthusiastic sympathy. With spontaneous 
impulse they heaped up stones to decorate the spot by a 
monument and commemorative trophy ; putting on the 
stones such homely offerings as their means afforded — 
sticks, hides, and a few of the wicker shields just taken 
from the natives. To the guide, who had performed his 
engagement of bringing them in five days within sight of 
the sea, their gratitude was unbounded. They presented 
him with a horse, a silver bowl, a Persian costume, and 
ten darics ^ in money ; besides several of the soldiers' 
rings, which he especially asked for. Thus loaded with 
presents, he left them, having first shown them a village 
wherein they could find quarters — as well as the road 
which they were to take through the territory of the 
Makrones. 

When they reached the river which divided the land of 
the Makrones from that of the Skythini, they perceived the 

1 Daric : a Persian gold coin worth about ^5.00. 



72 RETREAT OF THE 

former assembled in arms on the opposite side to resist 
their passage. The river not being fordable, they cut down 
some neigliboring trees to provide the means of crossing. 
Wliile tliese Makrdnes were shouting and encouraging each 
other aloud, a light-armed foot-soldier in the Grecian army- 
came to Xenophon, saying that he knew their language, 
and that he believed this to be his country. He had been 
a slave at Athens, exported from home during his boyhood 
— he had then made his escape (probably during the 
Peloponnesian War, to the garrison of Dekeleia), and after- 
wards taken military service. By this fortunate accident, 
the generals were enabled to open negotiations with the 
Makrones, and to assure them that the army would do them 
no harm, desiring nothing more than a free passage and 
a market to buy provisions. The Makrones, on receiving ' 
such assurances in their own language from a countryman, 
exchanged pledges of friendship with the Greeks, assisted 
them to pass the river, and furnished the best market 
in their power during the three days' march across their 
territory. 

The army now reached the borders of the Kolchians, 
who were found in hostile array, occupying the summit of 
a considerable mountain which formed their frontier. Here 
Xenophon, having marshalled the soldiers for attack, with 
each company of lOO men in single file, instead of marching 
up the hill in phalanx, or continuous front with only a scanty 
depth — addressed to them the following pithy encourage- 
ment — " Now, fellow-soldiers, these enemies before us are 
the only impediment that keeps us away from reaching the 
point at which we have been so long aiming. We must 
even eat them raw, if in any way we can do so." 

Eighty of these formidable companies of heavy-armed 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 73 

foot-soldiers, each in single file, now began to ascend the 
hill ; the light-armed foot-soldiers and bowmen being partly 
distributed among them, partly placed on the flanks. Chei- 
risophus and Xenophon, each commanding on one wing, 
spread their light-armed foot-soldiers in such a way as to 
outflank the Kolchians, who accordingly weakened their 
centre in order to strengthen their wings. Hence the 
Arcadian light-armed foot-soldiers and heavy-armed foot- 
soldiers in the Greek centre were enabled to attack and 
disperse the centre with little resistance ; and all the Kol- 
chians presently fled, leaving the Greeks in possession of 
their camp, as well as of several well-stocked villages in 
their rear. Amidst these villages the army remained to 
refresh themselves for several days. It was here that they 
tasted the grateful, but unwholesome honey, which this ''' 
region still continues to produce — unaware of its peculiar 
properties. Those soldiers who ate little of it were like 
men greatly intoxicated with wine ; those who ate much, 
were seized with the most violent vomiting and diarrhoea, 
lying down like madmen in a state of delirium. From this 
terrible distemper some recovered on the ensuing day, 
others two or three days afterwards. It does not appear 
that any one actually died. 

Two more days' march brought them to the sea, at the 
Greek maritime city of Trapezus or Trebizond, founded by 
the inhabitants of Sinope on the coast of the Kolchian 
territory. Here the Trapezuntines received them with 
kindness and hospitality, sendnig them presents of bullocks, 
barley-meal, and wine. Taking up their quarters in some 
Kolchian villages near the town, they now enjoyed, for the 
first time since leaving Tarsus, a safe and undisturbed 
repose during thirty days, and were enabled to recover in 



74 RETREAT OF THE 

some degree from the severe hardships which they had 
undergone. While the Trapezuntines brought produce for 
sale into the camp, the Greeks provided the means of pur- 
chasing it by predatory incursions against the Kolchians 
on the hills. Those Kolchians who dwelt under the hills 
and on the plain were in a state of semi-dependence upon 
Trapezus ; so that the Trapezuntines mediated on their 
behalf and prevailed on the Greeks to leave them unmo- 
lested, on condition of a contribution of bullocks. 

These bullocks enabled the Greeks to discharge the vow 
which they had made, on the proposition of Xenophon, to 
Zeus the Preserver, during that moment of dismay and 
despair which succeeded immediately on the massacre of 
their generals by Tissaphernes. To Zeus the Preserver, 

^ to Herakles ^ the Conductor, and to various other gods, they 

' offered an abundant sacrifice on their mountain camp over- 
hanging the sea ; and after the festival ensuing, the skins 

• of the victims were given as prizes to competitors in run- 
ning, wrestling, boxing, and other contests. The superin- 
tendence of such festival games, so fully accordant with 
Grecian usage and highly interesting to the army, was 
committed to a Spartan named Drakontius ; a man whose 
destiny recalls that of Patroklus and other Homeric heroes 
— for he had been exiled as a boy, having unintentionally 
killed another boy with a short sword. Various depart- 
ures from Grecian customs however were admitted. The 

^matches took place on the steep and stony hill-side over- 
hanging the sea, instead of on a smooth plain; and the 
numerous hard falls of the competitors afforded increased 
interest to the by-standers. The captive non-Hellenic boys 

1 Herakles (Hercules) : the exploits of this god in his numerous en- 
counters with wild beasts and robbers led to his worship on perilous journeys. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEK'S. 75 

were admitted to run for the prize, since otherwise a boy- 
race could not have been obtained. [" Horses also ran ; 
and they had to gallop down the steep, and, turning round 
in the sea, to come up again to the altar.^ In the descent, 
many rolled down ; but in the ascent, against the exceed- 
ingly steep ground, the horses could scarcely get up at a 
walking pace. There was consequently great shouting, and 
laughter, and cheering from the people."^] Lastly, the ani- 
mation of the scene, as well as the ardor of the competitors, 
was much enhanced by the number of the women present. 

§ 10. The Greek cities on the Black Sea ; their feelings tovrard 
the Ten Thousand. 

We now commence a third act in the history of this 
memorable body of men. After having followed them 
from Sardis to Kunaxa as mercenaries^ to procure the 
throne for Cyrus — then from Kunaxa to Trapezus as 
men anxious only for escape, and purchasing their safety 
by marvellous bravery, endurance, and organization — we 
shall now track their proceedings among the Greek colo- 
nies on the Euxine and at the Bosphorus of Thrace, 
succeeded by their struggles against the meanness of the 
Thracian prince Seuthes, as well as against the treachery 
and arbitrary harshness of the Lacedaemonian commanders 
Anaxibius and Aristarchus. 

Trapezus, now Trebizond, where the army had recently 
found repose, was a colony from Sinope, as were also 
Kerasus and Kotyora farther westward ; each of them re- 
ceiving a governor from the mother-city, and paying to 
her an annual tribute. All these three cities were planted 
on the narrow strip of land dividing the Euxine from the 

^ The altar : probably that where they had been sacrificing. 
2 Xenophon. ^ Mercenaries : hired soldiers. 



•J^ RETREAT OF THE 

elevated mountain range which so closely borders on its 
southern coast. At Sinope itself, the land stretches out 
into a defensible peninsula, with a secure harbor, and a 
large breadth of adjacent fertile soil. So tempting a site 
invited the Milesians,^ even before the year 600 B.C., to 
plant a colony there, and enabled Sinope to attain much 
prosperity, and power. Farther westward, not more than 
a long day's journey for a rowing vessel from Byzantium, 
was situated the Megarian ^ colony of Herakleia, in the 
territory of the Mariandyni. 

The native tenants of this line of coast, upon which the 
Greek settlers intruded themselves (reckoning from the 
westward), were the Bythynian Thracians, the Marian- 
dyni, the Paphlagonians, the Tibareni, Chalybes, Mosynoeki, 
Drilae, and Kolchians. Here as elsewhere, these natives 
found the Greek seaports useful, in giving a new value 
to inland produce, and in furnishing the great men with 
ornaments and luxuries to which they would otherwise 
have had no access. The citizens of Herakleia had reduced 
into dependence a considerable portion of the neighboring 
Mariandyni, and held them in a relation resembling that 
of the natives of Esthonia and Lavonia to the German 
colonies in the Baltic. Some of the Kolchian villages 
were also subject in the same manner to the Trapezun- 
tines; and Sinope doubtless possessed a similar inland 
dominion of greater or less extent. But the principal 
V wealth of this important city arose from her navy and 
' maritime commerce ; from the rich thunny fishery ^ at- 

1 Milesians : inhabitants of Miletus, Asia Minor. 

2 Megarian : pertaining to Megara, a district of Greece northwest of 
Athens. It was famous for its commerce. 

3 Thunny fishery : the thunny, or tunny, a large fish abundant in the 
Mediterranean and highly esteemed both for food and for the oil which it 
yields. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 77 

tached to her promontory ; from the olives in her imme- 
diate neighborhood, wliich was a cultivation not indigenous, 
but only naturalized by the Greeks on the seaboard ; from 
the varied produce of the interior, comprising abundant 
herds of cattle, mines of silver, iron, and copper, in the 
neighboring mountains, wood for ship-building, as well 
as for house-furniture, and native slaves. The case was 
similar with the three colonies of Sinope, more to the east- 
ward — Kotyora, Kerasus, and Trapezus ; except that the 
mountains which border on the Euxine, gradually approach- 
ing nearer and nearer to the shore, left to each of them a 
more confined strip of cultivable land. For these cities 
the time had not yet arrived to be conquered and absorbed 
by the inland monarchies around them, as Miletus and 
the cities on the western coast of Asia Minor had been. 
The Paphlagonians were at this time the only native 
people in those regions who formed a considerable aggre- 
gated force, under a prince named Korylas ; a prince 
tributary to Persia, yet half independent — since he had 
disobeyed the summons of Artaxerxes to come up and 
help in repelling Cyrus — and now on terms of established 
alliance with Sinope, though not without secret designs, 
which he wanted only force to execute, against that city. 
The other native tribes to the eastward were mountaineers 
both ruder and more divided ; warlike on their own heights, 
but little capable of any aggressive combinations. 

Though we are told that Perikles had once despatched 
a detachment of Athenian colonists to Sinope, and had 
expelled from thence the despot Timesilaus, — yet neither 
that city nor any of her neighbors appear to have taken 
part in the Peloponnesian war, either for or again^J; Athens ; 
nor were they among the number of tributaries to Persia. 



78 RETREAT OF THE 

They doubtless were acquainted with the upward march of 
Cyrus, which had disturbed all Asia ; and probably were 
not ignorant of the perils and critical state of his Grecian 
army. But it was with a feeling of mingled surprise, ad- 
miration, and alarm, that they saw that army descend from 
the mountainous region, hitherto only recognized as the 
abode of Kolchians, Makrones, and other analogous tribes, 
among whom was perched the mining city of Gymnias. 

Even after all the losses and extreme sufferings of the 
retreat the Greeks still numbered, when mustered at 
^ Kerasus, 8600 heavy-armed foot-soldiers, with light-armed 
foot-soldiers, bowmen, and slingers, making a total of 
above 10,000 military persons. Such a force had never 
before been seen in the Euxine. Considering both the 
numbers and the now-acquired discipline and self-con- 
fidence of the Cyreians, even Sinope herself could have 
raised no force capable of meeting them in the field. 
Yet they did not belong to any city, nor receive orders 
from any established government. They were like those 
mercenary armies which marched about in Italy during the 
fourteenth century, under the generals called Condottieri, 
taking service sometimes with one city, sometimes with 
another. No one could predict what schemes they might 
conceive, or in what manner they might deal with the 
established communities on the shores of the Euxine. If 
we imagine that such an army had suddenly appeared in 
Sicily, a little time before the Athenian expedition against 
Syracuse, it would have been probably enlisted by Leon- 
tini and Katana in their war against Syracuse. If the 
inhabitants of Trapezus had wished to throw off the do- 
minion of Sinope, — or if Korylas the Paphlagonian were 
meditating war against that city — here were formidable 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 79 

auxiliaries to second their wishes. Moreover there were 
various tempting sites, open to the formation of a new 
colony, which, with so numerous a body of original Greek 
settlers, would probably have overtopped Sinope herself. 
There was no restraining cause to reckon upon, except the 
general Hellenic sympathies and education of the Cyreian 
army ; and what was of not less importance, the fact that 
they were not mercenary soldiers by permanent profes- 
sion, such as became so formidably multiplied in Greece 
during the next generation^ — but established citizens who 
had come out on a special service under Cyrus, with 
the full intention, after a year of lucrative enterprise, to 
return to their homes and families. We shall find such 
gravitation towards home steadily operative throughout ^ 
the future proceedings of the army. But at the moment 
when they first emerged from the mountains, no one 
could be sure that it would be so. There was ample 
ground for uneasiness among the Euxine Greeks, espe- 
cially the Sinopians, whose supremacy had never before 
been endangered. 

§ 11. Plans of the army for the future. 

An undisturbed repose of thirty days enabled the Cyre- 
ians to recover from their fatigues, to talk over their past 
dangers, and to take pride in the anticipated effect which 
their unparalleled achievement could not fail to produce 
in Greece. Having discharged their vows and celebrated 
their festival to the gods, they held an assembly to discuss 
their future proceedings ; when a Thurian ^ soldier named 

1 Thurian : an inhabitant of Thurii, a city of Lower Italy, founded by a 
colony from Athens. 



8o RETREAT OF THE 

Antileon exclaimed — " Comrades, I am already tired of 
packing up, marching, running, carrying arms, falling into 
line, keeping watch, and fighting. Now that we have the 
sea here before us, I desire to be relieved from all these 
toils, to sail the rest of the way, and to arrive in Greece 
outstretched and asleep, like Odysseus." ^ This pithy ad- 
dress being received with vehement acclamations, and 
warmly responded to by all, Cheirisophus offered, if the 
army chose to empower him, to sail forthwith to Byzan- 
tium,^ where he thought he could obtain from his friend 
the Lacedaemonian admiral Anaxibius, sufficient vessels 
for transport. His proposition was gladly accepted ; and 
he departed to execute the project. 

Xenophon then urged upon the army various resolutions 
and measures, proper for the regulation of affairs during 
the absence of Cheirisophus. The army would be forced 
to maintain itself by marauding expeditions among the 
hostile tribes in the mountains. Such expeditions accord- 
ingly must be put under regulation : neither individual 
soldiers, nor small companies, must be allowed to go out 
at pleasure, without giving notice to the generals ; more- 
over, the camp must be kept under constant guard and 
scouts, in the event of surprise from a retaliating enemy. 
It was prudent also to take the best measures in their 
power for procuring vessels ; since, after all, Cheirisophus 
might possibly fail in bringing an adequate number. They 
ought to borrow a few ships of war from the Trapezun- 
•^ tines, and detain all the merchant ships ^ which they saw ; 

1 Odysseus : as Homer in the " Odyssey " represents Odysseus, or Ulysses, 
to have done. ^ Byzantium : the modern Constantinople. 

3 Merchant ships : small, one-masted vessels, not larger than our fishing- 
smacks. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 8 1 

unshipping the rudders, placing the cargoes under guard, 
and maintaining the crew during all the time that the 
ships might be required for transport of the army. Many 
such merchant vessels were often sailing by ; so that they 
would thus acquire the means of transport, even though 
Cheirisophus should bring few or none from Byzantium. 
Lastly, Xenophon proposed to require the Grecian cities 
to repair and put in order the road along the coast, for a 
land-march ; since, perhaps, with all their efforts, it would 
be found impossible to get together a sufficient stock 
of transports. 

All the propositions of Xenophon were readily adopted 
by the army, except the last. But the mere mention of a, 
renewed land-march excited such universal murmurs of 
repugnance, that he did not venture to put that question 
to the vote. He took upon himself however to send mes- 
sages to the Grecian cities, on his own responsibility ; 
urging them to repair the roads, in order that the depart- 
ure of the army might be facilitated. And he found the 
cities ready enough to carry his wishes into effect, as far 
as Kotyora. 

The wisdom of these precautionary suggestions of Xen- 
ophon soon appeared ; for Cheirisophus not only failed in 
his object, but was compelled to stay away for a considera- 
ble time. An armed ship with fifty oars was borrowed 
from the Trapezuntines, and committed to the charge of a 
Lacedaemonian provincial, named Dexippus, for the pur- 
pose of detaining the merchant vessels passing by. This 
man having violated his trust, and employed the ship to 
make his own escape out of the Euxine, a second was 
obtained and confided to an Athenian, Polykrates ; who 
brought in successively several merchant vessels. These 



82 RETREAT OF THE 

the Greeks did not plunder, but secured the cargoes under 
adequate guard, and only reserved the vessels for trans- 
ports. It became however gradually more and more diffi- 
cult to supply the camp with provisions. Though the 
army was distributed into suitable detachments for plun- 
dering the Kolchian villages on the hills, and seizing cattle 
and prisoners for sale, yet these expeditions did not always 
succeed ; indeed on one occasion, two Grecian companies 
got entangled in such difficult ground, that they were 
destroyed to a man. The Kolchians united on the hills in 
increased and menacing numbers, insomuch that a larger 
guard became necessary for the camp ; while the Trapezun- 
tines — tired of the protracted stay of the army, as well as 
desirous of exempting from pillage the natives in their 
own immediate neighborhood — conducted the detachments 
only to villages alike remote and difficult of access. It was 
in this manner that a large force under Xenophon himself, 
attacked the lofty and rugged stronghold of the Drilas — 
the most warlike nation of mountaineers in the neigh- 
borhood of the Euxine, well-armed, and troublesome to 
Trapezus by their incursions. After a difficult march and 
attack, which Xenophon describes in interesting detail, 
and wherein the Greeks encountered no small hazard of 
ruinous defeat — they returned, in the end completely 
successful, and with a plentiful booty. 

§ 12. The Ten Thousand begin their march westward. 

At length, after long awaiting in vain the reappearance 
of Cheirisophus, increasing scarcity and weariness deter- 
mined them to leave Trapezus. A sufficient number of 
vessels had been collected to serve for the transport of the 
women, of the sick and wounded, and of the baggage. All 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. ^l 

these were accordingly placed on board under the com- 
mand of Philesius and Sophaenetus, the two oldest gener- 
als ; while the remaining army marched by land, along a 
road which had been just made good under the representa- 
tions of Xenophon. In three days they reached Kerasus,^ 
another maritime colony of the Sinopians, still in the ter- 
ritory called Kolchian ; there they halted ten days, mus- 
tered and numbered the army, and divided the money 
acquired by the sale of their prisoners. Eight thousand 
six hundred heavy-armed foot-soldiers, out of a total proba- 
bly greater than eleven thousand, were found still remain- 
ing ; besides targeteers - and various light troops. 

During the halt at Kerasus, the declining discipline of 
the army became manifest as they approached home. 
Various acts of outrage occurred, originating now, as after- 
wards, in the intrigues of treacherous officers. A captain 
named Klearetus persuaded his company to attempt the 
plunder of a Kolchian village near Kerasus, which had fur- 
nished a friendly market to the Greeks, and which rested 
secure on the faith of peaceful relations. He intended to 
make off separately with the booty in one of the vessels : 
but his attack was repelled, and he himself slain. The 
injured villagers despatched three elders as heralds, to 
remonstrate with the Grecian authorities ; but these her- 
alds, being seen in Kerasus by some of the repulsed plun- 
derers, were slain. A partial tumult then ensued, in 
which even the magistrates of Kerasus were in great 
danger, and only escaped the pursuing soldiers by running 

^ Kerasus : this place is the native home of the cherry, and the origin of 
its name. The fruit was introduced into Italy from Kerasus about 70 B.C., and 
thence to England, France, and other countries conquered by the Romans. 

2 Targeteers : troops carrying a light target, or shield. 



84 RETREAT OF THE 

into the sea. This enormity, though it occurred under the 
eyes of the generals, immediately before their departure 
from Kerasus, remained without inquiry or punishment, 
from the numbers concerned in it. 

Between Kerasus and Kotyora, there was not then (nor 
is there now) any regular road. This march cost the 
Cyreian army not less than ten days, by an inland track 
departing from the sea-shore, and through the mountains 
inhabited by the native tribes Mosynoeki and Chalybes. 
The latter, celebrated for their iron works, were under 
dependence to the former. As the Mosynoeki refused to 
grant a friendly passage across their territory, the army 
were compelled to fight their way through it as enemies, 
with the aid of one section of these people themselves ; 
which alliance was procured for them by the Trapezuntine 
Timesitheus, who was consul or agent of the Mosynoeki 
and understood their language. The Greeks took the 
mountain fastnesses of this people, and plundered the 
wooden turrets ^ which formed their abodes. Of their pecu- 
liar fashions Xenophon gives an interesting description 
which I have not space to copy. The territory of the 
Tibareni was more easy and accessible. This people met 
the Greeks with presents, and tendered a friendly passage. 
But the generals at first declined the presents, preferring 
to treat them as enemies and plunder them ; which in fact 
they would have done, had they not been deterred by un- 
favorable sacrifices. 

Near Kotyora, which was situated on the coast of the 
Tibareni, yet on the borders of Paphlagonia, they remained 
forty-five days, still awaiting the appearance of Cheirisophus 

1 Turrets (or small towers): the name of the people — Mosynoeki — 
means the " tower-dwellers." • 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 85 

with the transports to carry them away by sea. The Sino- 
pian governor did not permit them to be welcomed in so 
friendly a manner as at Trapezus. No market was pro- 
vided for them, nor were their sick admitted within the 
walls. But the fortifications of the town were not so con- 
structed as to resist a Greek force, the like of which had 
never before been seen in those regions. The Greek gen- 
erals found a weak point, made their way in, and took 
possession of a few houses for the accommodation of their 
sick ; keeping a guard at the gate to secure free egress, 
but doing no farther violence to the citizens. They obtained 
their victuals partly from the Kotyorite villages, partly 
from the neighboring territory of Paphlagonia, until at 
length envoys arrived from Sinope to remonstrate against 
their proceedings. 

These envoys presented themselves before the assembled 
soldiers in the camp, when Hekatonymus, the chief and 
most eloquent among them, began by complimenting the 
army upon their gallant exploits and retreat. He then 
complained of the injury which Kotyora, and Sinope as 
the mother-city of Kotyora, had suffered at their hands, in 
violation of common Hellenic kinship. If such proceed- 
ings were continued, he intimated that Sinope would be 
compelled in her own defence to seek alliance with the 
Paphlagonian prince Korylas, or any other barbaric auxil- 
iary who would lend them aid against the Greeks. Xeno- 
phon replied that if the Kotyorites had sustained any 
damage, it was owing to their own ill-will and to the Sino- 
pian governor in the place ; that the generals were under 
the necessity of procuring subsistence for the soldiers, with 
house-room for the sick, and that they had taken nothing 
more ; that the sick men were lying within the town, but 



86 RETREAT OF THE 

at their own cost, while the other soldiers were all encamped 
without ; that they had maintained cordial friendship with 
the Trapezuntines, and requited all their good offices ; that 
they sought no enemies except through necessity, being 
anxious only again to reach Greece ; and that as for the 
threat respecting Korylas, they knew well enough that that 
prince was eager to become master of the wealthy city of 
Sinope, and would speedily attempt some such enterprise 
if he could obtain the Cyreian army as his auxiliaries. 

This judicious reply shamed the colleagues of Heka- 
tonymus so much, that they went the length of protesting 
against what he had said, and of affirming that they had 
come with propositions of sympathy and friendship to the 
army, as well as with promises to give them an hospitable 
reception at Sinope, if they should visit that town on their 
way home. Presents were at once sent to the army by 
the inhabitants of Kotyora, and a good understanding 
established- 
Such an interchange of goodwill with the powerful city 
of Sinope was an unspeakable advantage to the army — 
indeed an essential condition to their power of reaching 
home. If they continued their march by land, it was only 
through Sinopian guidance and mediation that they could 
obtain or force a passage through Paphlagonia ; while for a 
voyage by sea, there was no chance of procuring a sufficient 
number of vessels except from Sinope, since no news had 
been received of Cheirisophus. On the other hand, that 
city had also a strong interest in facilitating their transit 
homeward, and thus removing formidable neighbors, for 
whose ulterior purposes there could be no guarantee. After 
some preliminary conversation with the Sinopian envoys, 
the generals convoked the army in assembly, and entreated 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 87 

Hekatonymus and his companions to advise them as to the 
best mode of proceeding westward to the Bosphorus. Heka- 
tonymus, after apologizing for the menacing insinuations 
of his former speech, and protesting that he had no other 
object in view except to point out the safest and easiest 
plan of route for the army, began to unfold the insuperable 
difficulties of a march through Paphlagonia. The very 
entrance into the country must be achieved through a 
narrow aperture in the mountains, which it was impossible 
to force if occupied by the enemy. Even assuming this 
difficulty to be surmounted, there were spacious plains to 
be passed over, wherein the Paphlagonian horse,^ the most 
numerous and bravest in Asia, would be found almost 
irresistible. There were also three or four great rivers, 
which the army would be unable to pass — the Thermoddn 
and the Iris, each 300 feet in breadth — the Halys, nearly *^ 
a quarter of a mile in breadth — the Parthenius, also very 
considerable. Such an array of obstacles (he affirmed) 
rendered the project of marching through Paphlagonia im- 
practicable ; whereas the voyage by sea from Kotyora to 
Sinope, and from Sinope to Herakleia, was easy ; and the 
transit from the latter place either by sea to Byzantium, 
or by land across Thrace, yet easier. 

Difficulties like these, apparently quite real, were more 
than sufficient to determine the vote of the army, already 
sick of marching and fighting, in favor of the sea voyage ; 
though there were not wanting suspicions of the sincerity 
of Hekatonymus. But Xenophon, in communicating to 
the latter the decision of the army, distinctly apprised him 
that they would on no account permit themselves to be 
divided ; that they would either depart or remain all in a 

1 Paphlagonian horse : meaning the Paphlagonian cavalry. 



88 RETREAT OF THE 

body ; and that vessels must be provided sufficient for the 
transport of all. Hekatonymus desired them to send 
envoys of their own to Sinope to make the necessary 
arrangements. Three envoys were accordingly sent — 
Ariston, an Athenian, Kallimachus, an Arcadian, and Sa- 
molas, an Achaean ; the Athenian, probably, as possessing 
the talent of speaking in the Sinopian senate or assembly. 
During the absence of the envoys, the army still contin- 
ued near Kotyora, with a market provided by the town, 
and with traders from Sinope and Herakleia in the camp. 
Such soldiers as had no money wherewith to purchase, 
subsisted by pillaging the neighboring frontier of Paph- 
. lagonia. But they were receiving no pay ; every man 
.was living on his own resources; and instead of carry- 
ing back a handsome purse to Greece, as each soldier 
,had hoped when he first took service under Cyrus, there 
seemed every prospect of their returning poorer than when 
they left home. Moreover, the army was now moving 
onward without any definite purpose, with increasing 
dissatisfaction and decreasing discipline ; insomuch that 
Xenophon foresaw the difficulties which would beset the 
responsible commanders when they should come within 
the stricter restraints and obligations of the Grecian world. 



§ 13. Plans of Xenophon for founding a city on the Black Sea. 

It was these considerations which helped to suggest to 
him the idea of employing the army on some enterprise of 
conquest and colonization on the Euxine itself; an idea 
highly flattering to his personal ambition, especially as the 
army was of unrivalled efficiency against an enemy, and 
no such second force could ever be got together in those 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 89 

distant regions. His patriotism as a Greek was inflamed 
with the thoughts of procuring for Hellas ^ a new self- 
governing city, occupied by a considerable Hellenic popu- 
lation, possessing a spacious territory, and exercising do- 
minion over many neighboring natives. He seems to 
have thought first of attacking and conquering some estab- 
lished non-Hellenic city ; an act which his ideas of inter- 
national morality did not forbid, in a case where he had 
contracted no special convention with the inhabitants — 
though he (as well as Cheirisophus) strenuously protested 
against doing wrong to any innocent Hellenic community. 
He contemplated the employment of the entire force in 
capturing Phasis or some other native city ; after which, 
when the establishment was once safely effected, those 
soldiers who preferred going home to remaining as set- 
tlers, might do so without emperiling those who stayed, 
and probably with their own purses filled by plunder and 
conquest in the neighborhood. To settle as one of the ■ 
richest proprietors and chiefs, — perhaps even the recog- 
nized founder, like Agnon at Amphipolis, — of a new 
Hellenic city such as could hardly fail to become rich, 
powerful, and important — was a tempting prospect for 
one who had now acquired the habits of command. More- 
over, the sequel will prove how correctly Xenophon ap- 
preciated the discomfort of leading the army back to 
Greece without pay and without certain employment. 

It was the practice of Xenophon, and the advice of his 
master, Sokrates,^ in grave and doubtful cases where the 

^ Hellas : Greece. 

'^ "The gods (says Euripides, in the Sokratic vein) have given us wisdom 
to understand and appropriate to ourselves the ordinary comforts of life : in 
obscure or unintelligible cases we are enabled to inform ourselves by looking at 



90 RETREAT OF THE 

most careful reflection was at fault, to recur to the inspired 
authority of an oracle or a prophet, and to offer sacrifice, 
in full confidence that the gods would vouchsafe to com- 
municate a special revelation to such persons as they 
favored. Accordingly Xenophon, previous to any commu- 
nication with the soldiers respecting his new project, was 
anxious to ascertain the will of the gods by a special sacri- 
fice ; for which he invoked the presence of Silanus, the 
chief prophet in the army. This prophet (as I have 
already mentioned), before the battle of Kunaxa, had 
assured Cyrus that Artaxerxes would not fight for ten 
days — and the prophecy came to pass ; which made such 
an impression on Cyrus, that he rewarded him with the 
prodigious present of 3000 darics or ten Attic talents. 
While others were returning poor, Silanus, having con- 
trived to preserve this sum through all the hardships of 
the retreat, was extremely rich, and anxious only to hasten 
home with his treasure in safety. He heard with strong 
repugnance the project of remaining on the Euxine, and 
determined to traverse ^ it by intrigue. As far as concerned 
the sacrifices, indeed, which he offered apart with Xenophon 
he was obliged to admit that the indications of the victims 

the blaze of the fire, or by consulting prophets who understand the livers of 
sacrificial victims and the flight of birds. When they have thus furnished 
so excellent a provision for life, who but spoilt children can be discontented 
and ask for more? Yet still human prudence, full of self-conceit, will 
struggle to be more powerful, and will presume itself to be wiser, than the 
gods." 

It will be observed that this constant outpouring of special revelations, 
through prophets, omens, &c., was (in view of these Sokratic thinkers) an 
essential part of divine government; indispensable to satisfy their ideas of the 
benevolence of the gods; since rational and scientific prediction was so habit- 
ually at fault and unable to fathom the phenomena of the future. (Grote.) 

1 Traverse : thwart. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 9 1 

were favorable ; Xenophon himself being too familiar with 
the process to be imposed upon. But he at the same time 
tried to create alarm by declaring that a nice inspection 
disclosed evidence of treacherous snares laid for Xenophon ; 
which latter indications he himself began to realize by 
spreading reports among the army that the Athenian 
general was laying clandestine plans for keeping them 
away from Greece without their own concurrence.^ 

Thus prematurely and insidiously divulged, the scheme 
found some supporters, but a far larger number of oppo- 
nents ; especially among those officers who were jealous 
of the ascendency of Xenophon. Timasion and Thorax 
employed it as a means of alarming the Herakleotic and 
Sinopian traders in the camp ; telling them that unless 
they provided not merely transports, but also pay for the 
soldiers, Xenophon would find means to detain the army 
in the Euxine, and would employ the transports when 
they arrived not for the homeward voyage, but for his own 
projects of acquisition. This news spread so much terror 
both at Sinope and Herakleia that large offers of money 
were made from both cities to Timasion, on condition that 
he would ensure the departure of the army, as soon as the 
vessels should be assembled at Kotyora. Accordingly 
these officers, convening an assembly of the soldiers, pro- 
tested against the duplicity of Xenophon in thus preparing 
momentous schemes without any public debate or decision. 
And Timasion, seconded by Thorax, not only strenuously 

^ Though Xenophon accounted sacrifice to be an essential preliminary to 
any action of dubious result, and placed great faith in the indications which 
the victims offered, as signs of the future purposes of the gods, — he neverthe- 
less had very little confidence in the professional prophets. He thought them 
quite capable of gross deceit. (Grote.) Thus Silanus (see p. 92) pretends to 
find some unfavorable indications in sacrifices which supported Xenophon, 



92 RETREAT OF THE 

urged the army to return, but went so far as to promise to 
them, on the faith of the assurances from Herakleia and 
Sinope, future pay on a liberal scale, to commence from 
the first new moon after their departure ; together with a 
hospitable reception in his native city of Dardanus on the 
Hellespont, from whence they could make incursions on 
the rich neighboring satrapy of Pharnabazus. 

It was not, however, until these attacks were repeated 
from more than one quarter — until the Achaeans Philesius 
and Lykon had loudly accused Xenophon of underhand 
manoeuvring to cheat the army into remaining against 
their will — that the latter rose to repel the imputation ; 
saying that all he had done was, to consult the gods 
whether it would be better to lay his project before the 
army or keep it in his own bosom. The encouraging 
answer of the gods, as conveyed through the victims and 
testified even by Silanus himself, proved that the scheme 
was not ill-conceived ; nevertheless (he remarked) Silanus 
had begun to lay snares for him, obtaining by his own pro- 
ceedings a collateral indication which he had announced 
to be visible in the victims. " If (added Xenophon) you 
had continued as destitute and unprovided, as you were 
just now — I should still have looked out for a resource in 
the capture of some city which would have enabled such 
of you as chose, to return at once ; while the rest stay be- 
hind to enrich themselves. But now there is no longer 
any necessity ; since Herakleia and Sinope are sending 
transports, and Timasion promises pay to you from the 
next new moon. Nothing can be better ; you will go back 
safely to Greece, and will receive pay for going thither. 
I desist at. once from my scheme, and call upon all who 
were favorable to it to desist also. Only let us all keep 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 93 

together until we are on safe ground ; and let the man 
who lags behind or runs off, be condemned as a wrong- 
doer." 

Xenophon immediately put this question to the vote, 
and every hand was held up in its favor. There was no 
man more disconcerted with the vote than the prophet 
Silanus, who loudly exclaimed against the injustice of 
detaining any one desirous to depart. But the soldiers 
put him down with vehement disapprobation, threatening 
that they would assuredly punish him if they caught him 
running off. His intrigue against Xenophon thus recoiled 
upon himself, for the moment. But shortly afterwards, 
when the army reached Herakleia, he took his opportunity 
for clandestine flight, and found his way back to Greece 
with the 3000 darics. 

If Silanus gained little by his manoeuvre, Timasion and 
his partners gained still less. For so soon as it became 
known that the army had taken a formal resolution to go 
back to Greece, and that Xenophon himself had made the 
proposition, the Sinopians and the Herakleots felt at their 
ease. They sent the transport vessels, but withheld the 
money which they had promised to Timasion and Thorax. 
Hence these oiificers were exposed to dishonor and peril ; 
for having positively engaged to find pay for the army, 
they were now unable to keep their word. So keen were 
their apprehensions, that they came to Xenophon and told 
him that they had altered their views, and that they now 
thought it best to employ the newly-arrived transports in 
conveying the army, not to Greece, but against the town 
and territory of Phasis^ at the eastern extremity of the 

^ Phasis : on the Euxine; means the town of that name, not the river. 
(Grote.) 



94 RETREAT OF THE 

Euxine. Xenophon replied, that they might convene the 
soldiers and make the proposition, if they chose ; but that 
he would have nothing to say to it. To make the very 
proposition themselves, for which they had so much in- 
veighed against Xenophon, was impossible without some 
preparation ; so that each of them began individually to 
sound his captains, and get the scheme suggested by them. 
During this interval, the soldiery obtained information of 
the manoeuvre, much to their discontent and indignation ; 
of which Neon (the lieutenant of the absent Cheirisophus) 
took advantage, to throw the whole blame upon Xenophon ; 
alleging that it was he who had converted the other offi- 
cers to his original project, and that he intended, as soon 
as the soldiers were on shipboard, to convey them fraudu- 
lently to Phasis instead of to Greece. There was some- 
thing so plausible in this glaring falsehood, which repre- 
sented Xenophon as the author of the renewed project, 
once his own — and something so improbable in the fact 
that the other officers should spontaneously have renounced 
their own strong opinions to take up his — that we can 
hardly be surprised at the ready credence which Neon's 
calumny found among the army. Their exasperation 
against Xenophon became so intense, that they collected 
in fierce groups ; and there was even a fear that they 
would break out into mutinous violence, as they had 
before done against the magistrates of Kerasus. 

Well knowing the danger of such spontaneous and in- 
formal assemblages, and the importance of the habitual 
solemnities of convocation and arrangement, to ensure 
either discussion or legitimate defence — Xenophon imme- 
diately sent round the herald to summon the army into 
the regular place of assembly with customary method and 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 95 

ceremony. The summons was obeyed with unusual alacrity, 
and Xenophon then addressed them — refraining, with equal 
generosity and prudence, from saying anything about the 
last proposition which Timasion and others had made to him. 
Had he mentioned it, the question would have become one 
of life and death between him and those other officers. 

§ 14. Xenophon defends himself against false accusations. 

"Soldiers (said he), I understand that there are some 
men here calumniating me, as if I were intending to cheat 
you and carry you to Phasis. Hear me then, in the name 
of the gods. If I am shown to be doing wrong, let me not 
go from hence unpunished ; but if, on the contrary, my 
calumniators are proved to be the wrong-doers, deal with 
them as they deserve. You surely well know where the 
sun rises and where he sets ; you know that if a man 
wishes to reach Greece, he must go westward — if to the 
barbaric territories, he must go eastward. Can any one 
hope to deceive you on this point, and persuade you that 
the sun rises on tJiis side, and sets on tJiat ? Can any one 
cheat you into going on shipboard with a wind which blows 
you away from Greece } Suppose even that I put you 
aboard when there is no wind at all. How am I to force 
you to sail with me against your own consent — I being 
only in one ship, you in a hundred and more .'' Imagine 
however that I could even succeed in deluding you to Phasis. 
When we land there, you will know at once that we are not 
in Greece ; and what fate can I then expect — a detected 
impostor in the midst of ten thousand men with arms in 
their hands .-• No — these stories all proceed from foolish 
men, who are jealous of my influence with you ; jealous, 
too, without reason — for I neither hinder ///£";;/ from out- 



96 RETREAT OF THE 

Stripping me in your favor, if they can render you greater 
service — rxox you from electing them commanders, if you 
think fit. Enough of this now : I challenge any one to 
come forward and say how it is possible either to cheat, or 
to be cheated, in the manner laid to my charge." 

Having thus grappled directly with the calumnies of his 
enemies, and dissipated them in such manner as doubtless 
to create a reaction in his own favor, Xenophon made use 
of the opportunity to denounce the growing disorders in 
the army ; which he depicted as such, that if no corrective 
were applied, disgrace and contempt must fall upon all. As 
he paused after this general remonstrance, the soldiers 
loudly called upon him to go into particulars ; upon which 
he proceeded to recall, with lucid and impressive simplicity, 
the outrages which had been committed at and near Kerasus 
— the unauthorized and unprovoked attack made by Kleare- 
tus and his company on a neighboring village which was in 
friendly commerce with the army — the murder of the three 
elders of the village, who had come as heralds to complain 
to the generals about such wrong — the mutinous attack 
made by disorderly soldiers even upon the magistrates of 
Kerasus, at the very moment when they were remonstrat- 
ing with the generals on what had occurred ; exposing these 
magistrates to the utmost peril, and putting the generals 
themselves to ignominy " If such are to be our proceed- 
ings (continued Xenophon), look you well into what con- 
dition the army will fall. You, the aggregate body, will 
no longer be the sovereign authority to make war or peace 
with whom you please ; each individual among you will 
conduct the army against any point which he may choose. 
And even if men should come to you as envoys, either for 
peace or for other purposes, they may be slain by any 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 97 

single enemy ; so that you will be debarred from all public 
communications whatever. Next, those whom your uni- 
versal suffrage shall have chosen commanders, will have 
no authority ; while any self-elected general who chooses 
to give the word, Cast, Cast {i.e. darts or stones), may put 
to death without trial either officer or soldier as it suits 
him ; that is, if he finds you ready to obey him, as it hap- 
pened near Kerasus. Look now what these self-elected 
leaders have done for you. The magistrate of Kerasus, if 
he was really guilty of wrong towards you, has been enabled 
to escape with impunity ; if he was innocent, he has been 
obliged to run away from you, as the only means of avoid- 
ing death without pretence of trial. Those who stoned the 
heralds to death have brought matters to such a pass, that 
you alone, of all Greeks, cannot enter the town of Kerasus 
in safety, unless in commanding force ; and that we cannot 
even send in a herald to take up our dead (Klearetus and 
those who were slain in the attack on the Kerasuntine vil- 
lage) for burial ; though at first those who had slain them 
in self-defence were anxious to give up the bodies to us. 
For who will take the risk of going in as herald, from those 
who have set the example of putting heralds to death } We 
generals were obliged to entreat the Kerasuntines to bury 
the bodies for us." 

Continuing in this emphatic protest against the recent 
disorders and outrages, Xenophon at length succeeded in 
impressing his own sentiment, heartily and unanimously, 
upon the soldiers. They passed a vote that the ringleaders 
of the mutiny at Kerasus should be punished ; that if any 
one was guilty of similar outrages in future, he should be 
put upon his trial by the generals, before the captains as 
judges, and if condemned by them, put to death ; and that 



98 RETREAT OF THE 

trial should be had before the same persons, for any other 
wrong committed since the death of Cyrus. A suitable 
religious ceremony was also directed to be performed, at 
the instance of Xenophon and the prophets, to purify the 
army. 

This speech affords an interesting specimen of the 
political morality universal throughout the Grecian world, 
though deeper and more predominant among its better 
sections. In the miscellaneous aggregate, and temporary 
society, now mustered at Kotyora, Xenophon insists on 
the universal suffrage of the whole body, as the legitimate 
sovereign authority for the guidance of every individual 
will ; the decision of the majority, fairly and formally col- 
lected, as carrying a title to prevail over every dissentient 
minority ; the generals chosen by the majority of votes, 
as the only persons entitled to obedience. This is the 
cardinal principle to which he appeals, as the anchorage of 
political obligation in the mind of each separate man or 
fraction ; as the condition of all success, all safety, and all 
conjoint action ; as the only condition either for punishing 
wrong or protecting right ; as indispensable to keep up 
their sympathies with the Hellenic communities, and their 
dignity either as soldiers or as citizens. The complete 
success of his speech proves that he knew how to touch 
the right chord of Grecian feeling. No serious acts of 
individual insubordination occurred afterwards, though the 
army collectively went wrong on more than one occasion. 
And what is not less important to notice — the influence 
of Xenophon himself, after his unreserved and courageous 
remonstrance, seems to have been sensibly augmented — 
certainly noway diminished. 

The circumstances which immediately followed were 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 99 

indeed well calculated to augment it. For it was resolved, 
on the proposition of Xenophon himself, that the generals 
themselves should be tried before the newly-constituted 
tribunal of the captains, in case anyone had complaint to 
make against them for past matters ; agreeably to the 
Athenian habit of subjecting every magistrate to atrial of 
accountability on laying down his office. In the course 
of this investigation, Philesius and Xanthikles were fined 
twenty minae, ^ to make good an assignable deficiency of 
that amount, in the cargoes of those merchantmen which 
had been detained at Trapezus for the transport of the 
army : Sophaenetus, who had the general superintendence 
of this property, but had been negligent in that duty, was 
fined ten minae. Next, the name of Xenophon was put 
up, when various persons stood forward to accuse him of 
having beaten and ill-used them. As commander of the 
rear-guard, his duty was by far the severest and most diffi- 
cult, especially during the intense cold and deep snow ; 
since the sick and wounded, as well as the laggards and 
plunderers, all fell under his inspection. One man espe- 
cially was loud in complaints against him, and Xenophon 
questioned him, as to the details of his case, before the 
assembled army. It turned out that he had given him 
blows, because the man, having been entrusted with the 
task of carrying a sick soldier, was about to evade the duty 
by burying the dying man alive. This interesting debate 
ended by a full approbation on the part of the army of 
Xenophon's conduct, accompanied with regret that he had 
not handled the man yet more severely. 

The statements of Xenophon himself give us a vivid 

1 Minae : the mina was about one 'pound by weight of silver, or ^20, 
Twenty minae would be therefore ^400. 



lOO RETREAT OF THE 

idea of the internal discipline of the army, even as man- 
aged by a discreet and well-tempered officer. " I acknowl- 
edge (said he to the soldiers) to have struck many men 
for disorderly conduct ; men who were content to owe 
their preservation to your orderly march and constant 
fighting, while they themselves ran about to plunder and 
enrich themselves at your cost. Had we all acted as they 
did, we should have perished to a man. Sometimes too I 
struck men who were lagging behind with cold and fa- 
tigue, or were stopping the way so as to hinder others 
from getting forward : I struck them with my fist, in order 
to save them from the spear of the enemy. You your- 
selves stood by and saw me : you had arms in your hands, 
yet none of you interfered to prevent me. I did it for 
their good as well as for yours, not from any insolence of 
disposition ; for it was a time when we were all alike suf- 
fering from cold, hunger, and fatigue ; whereas I now live 
comparatively well, drink more wine and pass easy days — 
and yet I strike no one. You will find that the men who 
failed most in those times of hardship, are now the most 
outrageous offenders in the army. There is Boi'skus, the 
Thessalian pugilist, who pretended sickness during the 
march, in order to evade the burden of carrying his shield 
— and now, as I am informed, he has stripped several 
citizens of Kotyora of their clothes. If {he concluded) the 
blows which I have occasionally given, in cases of neces- 
sity, are now brought in evidence — I call upon those 
among you also, to whom I have rendered aid and protec- 
tion, to stand up and testify in my favor." 

Many individuals responded to this appeal, insomuch 
that Xenophon was not merely acquitted, but stood higher 
than before in the opinion of the army. We learn from 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. lOI 

his defence that for a commanding officer to strike a sol- 
dier with his fist, if wanting in duty, was not considered im- 
proper ; at least under such circumstances as those of the 
retreat. But what deserves notice still more, is, the ex- 
traordinary influence which Xenophon's powers of speaking- 
gave him over the minds of the army. He stood distin- 
guished from the other generals, Lacedaemonian, Arcadian, 
Achaean, and the rest, by his power of working on the 
minds of the soldiers collectively ; and we see that he 
had the good sense, as well as the spirit, not to shrink 
from telling them unpleasant truths. In spite of such 
frankness — or rather, partly by means of such frankness 
— his ascendency as commander not only remained un- 
abated, as compared with that of the others, but went on 
increasing. For whatever may be said about the flattery 
of orators as a means of influence over the people, — it will 
be found that though particular points may be gained in 
this way, yet wherever the influence of an orator has been 
steady and long-continued (like that of Perikles or Demos- 
thenes) it is owing in part to the fact that he has an opinion 
of his own, and is not willing to accommodate himself con- 
stantly to the prepossessions of his hearers. Without the 
oratory of Xenophon, there would have existed no engine 
for kindling or sustaining the common sense or feeling of 
the ten thousand Cyreians assembled at Kotyora, or for 
keeping up the moral authority of the aggregate over the 
individual members and fractions. The other officers could 
doubtless speak well enough to address short encourage- 
ments, or give simple explanations, to the soldiers : with- 
out this faculty, no man was fit for military command over 
Greeks. But the oratory of Xenophon was something of 
a higher order. Whoever wall study the discourse pro- 



102 RETREAT OF THE 

nounced by him at Kotyora will perceive a dexterity in 
dealing with assembled multitudes — a discriminating use 
sometimes of the plainest and most direct appeal, some- 
times of indirect insinuation or circuitous transitions to 
work round the minds of the hearers — a command of those 
fundamental political convictions which lay deep in the 
Grecian mind, but were often so overlaid by the fresh 
impulses arising out of each successive situation, as to 
require some positive friction to draw them out from their 
latent state — lastly, a power of expansion and varied repe- 
tition — such as would be naturally imparted both by the 
education and the practice of an intelligent Athenian, but 
would rarely be found in any other Grecian city. The 
energy and judgment displayed by Xenophon in the retreat 
were doubtless not less essential to his influence than his 
power of speaking; but in these points we may be sure 
that other officers were more nearly his equals. 

The important public proceedings above described not 
only restored the influence of Xenophon, but also cleared 
off a great amount of bad feeling, and sensibly abated the 
bad habits, which had grown up in the army. A scene 
which speedily followed was not without effect in promot- 
ing cheerful and amicable sympathies. The Paphlagonian 
prince Korylas, weary of the desultory warfare carried on be- 
tween the Greeks and the border inhabitants, sent envoys to 
the Greek camp with presents of horses and fine robes, and 
with expressions of a wish to conclude peace. The Greek 
generals accepted the presents, and promised to submit 
the proposition to the army. But first, they entertained 
the envoys at a banquet, providing at the same time games 
and dances, with other recreations amusing not only to 
them but also to the soldiers generally. [Xenophon thus 



TEM THOUSAND GREEKS. I03 

describes them — "As soon as the libations were over, and 
they had sung the paean, two Thracians rose up and danced 
in full armor, to the sound of a pipe ; ^ they leaped very 
high, and with great agility, and wielded their swords ; and 
at last one struck the other, in such a manner that every 
one thought he had killed him. He fell, however, artfully, 
and the Paphlagonians cried out ; the other having stripped 
him of his arms, went out singing ; while other Thracians 
carried off the man as if he had been dead ; though indeed 
he had suffered no hurt. Afterward some others stood up 
and danced what they called the Carpaean dance ^ in heavy 
arms. The nature of the dance was as follows : one man 
having laid aside his arms, sows, and drives a yoke of oxen, 
frequently turning to look back as if he were afraid. A 
robber then approaches, and the plowman vvhen he per- 
ceives him, snatches up his arms and runs to meet him, 
and fights with him in defence of his oxen (and the dancers 
acted all this, keeping time to the music) ; but at last the 
robber binding the ox driver, leads him off with his oxen. 
Sometimes, however, the plowman binds the robber, and 
then having fastened him to his oxen, drives him off with 
his hands tied behind him. 

" Next came forward a man with a light shield in each 
hand, and danced, sometimes acting as if two adversaries 
were attacking him ; sometimes he used his shields as if 
engaged with only one ; sometimes he whirled about, and 
threw a somersault, still keeping the shields in his hands, 
presenting an interesting spectacle. At last he danced the 

1 Pipe : a fife or flute-like instrument. 

2 Carpaean dance : perhaps because one of the dancers represented a 
sower of grain (from karpos, fruit), or possibly from karpos, wrist, the wrists 
of one being bound. 



104 RETREAT OF THE 

Persian dance (frequently bending the knee), clashing his 
shields together, sinking on his knees, and rising again ; 
and all this he performed in time to the pipe. 

" After him some of the Arcadians coming forward and 
taking their stand, armed as handsomely as they could 
equip themselves, moved along in time, accompanied by a 
pipe tuned for the war-movement, and sung the paean, and 
danced in the same manner as in the procession to the 
gods. The Paphlagonians, looking on, testified their aston- 
ishment that all the dances were performed in armor. The 
Mysian,! observing that they were surprised at the ex- 
hibition, and prevailing on one of the Arcadians, who had 
a female dancer, to let her come in, brought her forward, 
equipping her as handsomely as he could, and giving her 
a light shield. She danced the Pyrrhic ^ dance with great 
agility, and a general clapping of hands followed ; and the 
Paphlagonians asked whether the women fought along 
with the men ; when they replied that it was the women 
who had driven the King from his camp.^ This was the 
conclusion of the entertainment for that night."*] They 
were followed on the next day by an amicable convention 
concluded between the army and the Paphlagonians. 

§ 15. The army passes by sea to Sin6pe. 

Not long afterwards — a number of transports, sufficient 
for the whole army, having been assembled from Herakleia 
and Sinope — all the soldiers were conveyed by sea to the 

1 Mysian : from Mysia, Asia Minor. 

"^ Pyrrhic dance : a kind of dance accompanied with every gesture of the 
body used in giving and avoiding blows. 

3 This appears to have been said jocosely in reference to the Persian King. 
* Xenophon. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. IO5 

latter place, passing by the mouth of the rivers Thermodon, 
Iris, and Halys, which they would have found impracticable 
to cross in a land-march through Paphlagonia. Having 
reached Sinope after a day and a night of sailing with a 
fair wind, they were hospitably received, and lodged in the 
neighboring seaport of Armene, where the Sinopians sent 
to them a large present of barley-meal and wine, and where 
they remained for five days. 

It was here that they were joined by Cheirisophus, whose 
absence had been so unexpectedly prolonged. But he 
came with only a single trireme,^ bringing nothing except 
a message from Anaxibius, the Lacedaemonian general in 
the Bosphorus ; who complimented the army, and promised 
that they should be taken into pay as soon as they were 
out of the Euxine. The soldiers, severely disappointed on 
seeing him arrive thus empty-handed, became the more 
strongly bent on striking some blow to fill their own purses 
before they reached Greece. Feeling that it was necessary 
to the success of any such project that it should be pre- 
pared not only skilfully, but secretly, they resolved to elect 
a single general in place of that board of six (or perhaps 
more) who were still in function. Such was now the 
ascendency of Xenophon, that the general sentiment of 
the army at once turned towards him ; and the captains, 
communicating to him what was in contemplation, in- 
timated to him their own anxious hopes that he would not 
decline the offer. Tempted by so flattering a proposition, 
he hesitated at first what answer he should give. But at 
length the uncertainty of being able to satisfy the exigen- 
cies of the army, and the fear of thus compromising the 

1 Trireme : a war-vessel propelled by three ranks of rowers placed one 
above the other. 



I06 RETREAT OF THE 

reputation which he had already reahzed, outweighed the 
opposite inducements. As in other cases of doubt, so in 
this — he offered sacrifice to Zeus the King; and the 
answer returned by the victims was such as to determine 
him to refusal. Accordingly, when the army assembled, 
with predetermination to choose a single chief, and pro- 
ceeded to nominate him — he respectfully and thankfully 
declined, on the ground that Cheirisophus was a Lacedae- 
monian, and that he himself was not ; adding that he 
should cheerfully serve under any one whom they might 
name. His excuse however was repudiated ; especially by 
the captains. Several of these latter were Arcadians ; and 
one of them, Agasias, cried out, with full sympathy of the 
soldiers, that, if that principle were admitted, he as an 
Arcadian ought to resign his command. Finding that his 
former reason was not approved, Xenophon acquainted the 
army that he had sacrificed to know whether he ought to 
accept the command, and that the gods had peremptorily 
forbidden him to do so. 

Cheirisophus was then elected sole commander, and 
undertook the duty ; saying that he would have willingly 
served under Xenophon, if the latter had accepted the 
office, but that it was a good thing for Xenophon himself 
to have declined — since Dexippus had already poisoned 
the mind of Anaxibius against him, though he (Cheiris- 
ophus) had emphatically contradicted the calumnies. 

On the next day, the army sailed forward under the 
command of Cheirisophus, to Herakleia ; near which town 
they were hospitably entertained, and gratified with a 
present of meal, wine, and bullocks, even greater than they 
had received at Sinope. It now appeared that Xenophon 
had acted wisely in declining the sole command ; and also 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. I07 

that Cheirisophus, though elected commander, yet having 
been very long absent, was not really of so much impor- 
tance in the eyes of the soldiers as Xenophon. In the 
camp near Herakleia, the soldiers became impatient that 
their generals (for the habit of looking upon Xenophon as 
one of them still continued) took no measures to procure 
money for them. The Achaean Lykon proposed that they 
should extort a contribution of no less than 3000 staters ^ 
of Kyzikus from the inhabitants of Herakleia: another 
man immediately outbid this proposition, and proposed that 
they should require 10,000 staters^ — a full month's pay 
for the army. It was moved that Cheirisophus and Xeno- 
phon should go to the Herakleots as envoys with this 
demand. But both of them indignantly refused to be 
concerned in so unjust an extortion, from a Grecian city 
which had just received the army kindly and sent handsome 
presents. Accordingly Lykon with two Arcadian officers 
undertook the mission, and intimated the demand, not 
without threats in case of non-compliance, to the Herak- 
leots. The latter replied that they would take it into con- 
sideration. But they waited only for the departure of the 
envoys, and then immediately closed their gates, manned 
their walls, and brought in their outlying property. 

The project being thus baffled, Lykon and the rest 
turned their displeasure upon Cheirisophus and Xenophon, 
whom they accused of having occasioned its miscarriage. 
And they now began to exclaim that it was disgraceful to 
the Arcadians and Achaeans, who formed more than one 

^ Three thousand staters: about $11,500; ten thousand staters would 
be in round numbers about $38,000. The stater was a Greek gold coin; its 
value is usually given at about $5.00, but Grole here makes it considerably 
less. 



I08 RETREAT OF THE 

numerical half of the army and endured all the toil — to 
obey as well as to enrich generals from other Hellenic 
cities ; especially a single Athenian who furnished no con- 
tingent to the army. Here again it is remarkable that the 
personal importance of Xenophon caused him to be still 
regarded as a general, though the sole command had been 
vested by formal vote in Cheirisophus. So vehement was 
the dissatisfaction, that all the Arcadian and Achaean sol- 
diers in the army, more than 4500 heavy-armed foot-sol- 
diers in number, renounced the authority of Cheirisophus, 
formed themselves into a distinct division, and chose ten 
commanders from out of their own numbers. The whole 
army thus became divided into three portions — first the 
Arcadians and Achaeans : secondly, 1400 heavy -armed foot- 
soldiers and 700 Thracian light-armed foot-soldiers, who 
adhered to Cheirisophus : lastly, 1700 heavy-armed foot- 
soldiers, 300 light-armed foot-soldiers, and 40 horsemen 
(all the horsemen in the army), attaching themselves to 
Xenophon ; who however was taking measures to sail 
away individually from Herakleia and quit the army al- 
together, which he would have done had he not been 
restrained by unfavorable sacrifices. 

The Arcadian division, departing first, in vessels from 
Herakleia, landed at Kalpe ; an untenanted promontory of 
the Bithynian or Asiatic Thrace, midway between Hera- 
kleia and Byzantium. From thence they marched at once 
into the interior of Bithynia, with the view of surprising 
the villages and acquiring plunder. But through rashness 
and bad management, they first sustained several partial 
losses, and ultimately became surrounded upon an emi- 
nence, by a large muster of the native Bithynians from all 
the territory around. They were only rescued from de- 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. IO9 

struction by the unexpected appearance of Xenophon with 
his division ; who had left Herakleia somewhat later, but 
heard by accident, during their march, of the danger of 
their comrades. The whole army thus became re-as- 
sembled at Kalpe, where the Arcadians and Achasans, 
disgusted at the ill-success of their separate expedition, 
again established the old union and the old generals. They 
chose Neon in place of Cheirisophus, who — afflicted by 
the humiliation put upon him, in having been first named 
sole commander and next deposed within a week — had 
fallen sick of a fever and died. The elder Arcadian cap- 
tains farther moved a resolution, that if any one hence- 
forward should propose to separate the army into fractions, 
he should be put to death. 

The locality of Kalpe was well-suited for the foundation 
of a colony, which Xenophon evidently would have been 
glad to bring about, though he took no direct measures 
tending towards it ; while the soldiers were so bent on 
returning to Greece, and so jealous lest Xenophon should 
entrap them into remaining, that they almost shunned the 
encampment. It so happened that they were detained 
there for some days without being able to march forth 
even in quest of provisions, because the sacrifices were not 
favorable. Xenophon refused to lead them out, against the 
warning of the sacrifices — although the army suspected 
him of a deliberate manoeuvre for the purpose of detention. 
Neon however, less scrupulous, led out a body of 2000 
men who chose to follow him, under severe distress for 
want of provisions. But being surprised by the native 
Bithynians, with the aid of some troops of the Persian 
satrap Pharnabazus, he was defeated with the loss of no 
less than 500 men ; a misfortune which Xenophon regards 



no RETREAT OF THE 

as the natural retribution for contempt of the sacrificial 
warning. The dangerous position of Neon with the re- 
mainder of the detachment was rapidly made known at 
the camp : upon which Xenophon, unharnessing a wagon- 
bullock as the only animal near at hand, immediately 
offered sacrifice. On this occasion the victim was at once 
favorable ; so that he led out without delay the greater 
part of the force, to the rescue of the exposed detachment, 
which was brought back in safety to the camp. So bold 
had the enemy become, that in the night the camp was 
attacked. The Greeks were obliged on the next day to 
retreat into stronger ground, surrounding themselves with 
a ditch and a palisade. Fortunately a vessel arrived from 
Herakleia, bringing to the camp at Kalpe a supply of barley- 
meal, cattle, and wine ; which restored the spirits of the 
army, enabling them to go forth on the ensuing morning 
and assume the aggressive against the Bithynians, and 
the troops of Pharnabazus. These troops were completely 
defeated and dispersed, so that the Greeks returned to 
their camp at Kalpe in the evening both safe and masters 
of the country. 

At Kalpe they remained some time awaiting the ar- 
rival of Kleander from Byzantium, who was said to be 
about to bring vessels for their transport. They were 
now abundantly provided with supplies, not merely from 
the undisturbed plunder of the neighboring villages, but 
also from the visits of traders who came with cargoes. 
Indeed the impression — that they were preparing, at the 
instance of Xenophon, to found a new city at Kalpe — be- 
came so strong that several of the neighboring native vil- 
lages sent envoys to ask on what terms alliance would be 
granted to them. At length Kleander came, but with two 
triremes only. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. Ill 

Kleander was the Lacecl?emoni-an governor of Byzantium. 
His appearance opens to us a new phase in the eventful 
history of this gallant army, as well as an insight into the 
state of the Grecian world under the Lacedaemonian em- 
pire. He came attended by the Lacedaemonian Dexippus, 
who had served in the Cyreian army until their arrival at 
Trapezus, and who had there been entrusted with an armed 
vessel for the purpose of detaining transports to convey 
the troops home but had abused the confidence reposed in 
him, by running away with the ship to Byzantium. 

It so happened that at the moment when Kleander 
arrived, the whole army was out on a marauding excursion. 
Orders had already been promulgated, that whatever was 
captured by every one when the whole army was out, 
should be brought in and dealt with as public property ; 
though on days when the army was collectively at rest, 
any soldier might go out individually and take to himself 
whatever he could pillage. On the day when Kleander 
arrived, and found the whole army out, some soldiers were 
just coming back with a lot of sheep which they had seized. 
By right, the sheep ought to have been handed into the 
public store. But these soldiers, desirous to appropri- 
ate them wrongfully, addressed themselves to Dexippus, 
and promised him a portion if he would enable them to 
retain the rest. Accordingly the latter interfered, drove 
away those who claimed the sheep as public property, and 
denounced them as thieves to Kleander ; who desired him 
to bring them before him. Dexippus arrested one of them, 
a soldier belonging to the company of one of the best 
friends of Xenophon — the Arcadian Agasias. The latter 
took the man under his protection ; while the soldiers around 
incensed not less at the past than at the present conduct 



112 RETREAT OF THE 

of Dexippus, broke out into violent manifestations, called 
him a traitor, and pelted him with stones. Such was their 
wrath, that not Dexippus alone, but the crew of the tri- 
remes also, and even Kleander himself fled, in alarm ; in 
spite of the intervehtion of Xenophon, and the other gen- 
erals, who on the one hand explained to Kleander, that it 
was an established army-order which these soldiers were 
seeking to enforce — and on the other hand controlled the 
mutineers. But the Lacedaemonian governor was so incensed 
as well by his own fright as by the calumnies of Dexippus, 
that he threatened to sail away at once, and proclaim the 
Cyreian army enemies to Sparta, so that every Hellenic 
city should be interdicted from giving them reception. It 
was in vain that the generals, well knowing the formidable 
consequences of such an interdict, entreated him to relent. 
He would consent only on condition that the soldiers who 
had begun to throw stones as well as Agasias the interfer- 
ing officer, should be delivered up to him. This latter de- 
mand was especially insisted upon by Dexippus, who hating 
Xenophon, had already tried to prejudice Anaxibius against 
him, and believed that Agasias had acted by his order. 

The situation now became extremely critical ; since the 
soldiers would not easily be brought to surrender their 
comrades — who had a perfectly righteous cause, though 
they had supported it by undue violence — to the ven- 
geance of a traitor like Dexippus. When the army was con- 
vened in assembly, several of them went so far as to treat 
the menace of Kleander with contempt. But Xenophon 
took pains to set them right upon this point. "Soldiers 
(said he) it will be no slight misfortune if Kleander shall 
depart as he threatens to do, in his present temper toward 
us. We are here close upon the cities of Greece : now 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. II3 

the Lacedaemonians are the imperial power in Greece, and 
not merely their authorized officers, but even each one of 
their individual citizens, can accomplish what he pleases in 
the various cities. If then Kleander begins by shutting us 
out from Byzantium, and next enjoins the Lacedaemonian 
governors in the other cities ^ to do the same, proclaiming 
us lawless and disobedient to Sparta — if, besides, the 
same representation should be conveyed to the Lacedae- 
monian admiral of the fleet, Anaxibius — we shall be hard 
pressed either to remain or to sail away ; for the Lacedae- 
monians are at present masters both on land and at sea. 
We must not, for the sake of any one or two men, suffer 
the whole army to be excluded from Greece. We must 
obey whatever the Lacedaemonians command, especially as 
our cities, to which we respectively belong, now obey them. 
As to what concerns myself, I understand that Dexippus 
has told Kleander that Agasias would never have taken 
such a step except by my orders. Now, if Agasias him- 
self states this, I am ready to exonerate both him and all 
of you, and to give myself up to any extremity of punish- 
ment. I maintain too that any other man whom Kleander 
arraigns ought in like manner to give himself up for trial, 
in order that you collectively may be discharged from the 
imputation. It will be hard indeed, if just as we are 
reaching Greece, we should not only be debarred from 
the praise and honor which we anticipated, but should be 
degraded even below the level of others, and shut out from 
the Grecian cities." 

After this speech from the philo-Laconian ^ Xenophon — 

^ Cities : cities then were generally built with walls and gates, so that it 
was easy to exclude any whom they did not wish should enter. 

2 Philo-Laconian : Sparta-loving (Sparta being in the district of Laconia). 
Compare what is said of Xenophon on p. 41. 



114 RETREAT OF THE 

SO significant a testimony of the unmeasured ascendency 
and interference of the Lacedaemonians throughout Greece 
— Agasias rose, and proclaimed, that what he had done was 
neither under the orders, nor with the privity, of Xeno- 
phon ; that he had acted on a personal impulse of wrath, 
at seeing his own honest and innocent soldier dragged 
away by the traitor Dexippus ; but that he now willingly 
gave himself up as a victim, to avert from the army the 
displeasure of the Lacedaemonians. This generous self- 
sacrifice, which at the moment promised nothing less than 
a fatal result to Agasias, was accepted by the army : and 
the generals conducted both him and the soldier whom he 
had rescued, as prisoners to Kleander. Presenting himself 
as the responsible party, Agasias at the same time ex- 
plained to Kleander the infamous behavior of Dexippus to 
the army, and said that towards no one else would he have 
acted in the same manner ; while the soldier whom he had 
rescued, and who was given up at the same time, also 
affirmed that he had interfered merely to prevent Dexippus 
and some others from overruling, for their own individual 
benefit, a proclaimed order of the entire army. Kleander, 
having observed that if Dexippus had done what was 
affirmed, he would be the last to defend him, but that 
no one ought to have been stoned without trial — desired 
that the persons surrendered might be left for his consider- 
ation, and at the same time retracted his expressions of 
displeasure as regarded all the others. 

The generals then retired, leaving Kleander in posses- 
sion of the prisoners, and on the point of taking his dinner. 
But they retired with mournful feelings, and Xenophon 
presently convened the army to propose that a general 
deputation should be sent to Kleander to implore his lenity 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. I 15 

towards their two comrades. This being cordially adopted, 
Xenophon, at the head of a deputation comprising Dra- 
kontius the Spartan as well as the chief officers, addressed 
an earnest appeal to Kleander, representing that his honor 
had been satisfied with the unconditional surrender of the 
two persons required ; that the army, deeply concerned for 
two meritorious comrades, entreated him now to show 
mercy and spare their lives ; that they promised him in 
return the most explicit obedience, and entreated him to 
take the command of them, in order that he might have 
personal cognizance of their exact discipline, and compare 
their worth with that of Dexippus. Kleander was not 
merely soothed, but completely won over, by this address ; 
and said in reply that the conduct of the generals belied 
altogether the representations made to him (doubtless by 
Dexippus), that they were seeking to alienate the army 
from the Lacedaemonians. He not only restored the two 
men in his power, but also accepted the command of the 
army, and promised to conduct them back into Greece. 

The prospects of the army appeared thus greatly im- 
proved ; the more so, as Kleander, on entering upon his 
new functions as commander, found the soldiers so cheer- 
ful and orderly, that he was highly gratified, and exchanged 
personal tokens of friendship and hospitality with Xen- 
ophon. But when sacrifices came to be offered, for begin- 
ning the march homeward, the signs were so unpropitious, 
for three successive days, that Kleander could not bring 
himself to brave such auguries at the outset of his career. 
Accordingly, he told the generals, that the gods plainly 
forbade him, and reserved it for them, to conduct the army 
into Greece ; that he should therefore sail back to Byzan- 
tium, and would receive the army in the best way he could, 



Il6 RETREAT OF THE 

when they reached the Bosphorus. After an interchange 
of presents with the soldiers, he then departed with his 
two triremes. 

The favorable sentiment now established in the bosom 
of Kleander will be found very serviceable hereafter to 
the Cyreians at Byzantium ; but they had cause for deeply 
regretting the unpropitious sacriiices which had deterred 
him from assuming the actual command at Kalpe. In the 
request preferred to him by them that he would march as 
their commander to the Bosphorus, we may recognize a 
scheme, and a very well-contrived scheme, of Xenophon ; 
who had before desired to leave the army at Herakleia, and 
who saw plainly that the difficulties of a commander, unless 
he were a Lacedaemonian of station and influence, would 
increase with every step of their approach to Greece. Had 
Kleander accepted the command, the soldiers would have 
been better treated, while Xenophon himself might either 
have remained as his adviser, or might have gone home. 
He would probably have chosen the latter course. 

§ 16. The army crosses the Bosphorus to Byzantium ; false 
promises of Anaxibius and their results. 

Under the command of their own officers, the Cyreians 
now marched from Kalpe across Bithynia to Chrysopolis 
(in the territory of ChalkMon on the Asiatic edge of the 
Bosphorus, immediately opposite to Byzantium,^ as Scutari 
now is to Constantinople), where they remained seven 
days, turning into money the slaves and plunder which 
they had collected. Unhappily for them, the Laced?e- 

1 Byzantium : this city (the modern Constantinople) was founded by a 
Greek colony B.C. 657. It had a mixed population, and was at this time 
under the rule of a Lacedjemonian or Spartan governor. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 11/ 

monian admiral Anaxibius was now at Byzantium, so that 
their friend Kleander was under his superior command. 
And Pharnabazus, the Persian satrap of the north-western 
regions of Asia Minor, becoming much alarmed lest they 
should invade his satrapy, despatched a private message to 
Anaxibius ; whom he prevailed upon, by promise of large 
presents, to transport the army forthwith across to the 
European side of the Bosphorus. Accordingly, Anaxibius, 
sending for the generals and the captains across to Byzan- 
tium, invited the army to cross, and gave them his assur- 
ance that as soon as the soldiers should be in Europe, he 
would provide pay for them. The other officers told him 
that they would return with this message and take the 
sense of the army ; but Xenophon on his own account said 
that he should not return ; that he should now retire from 
the army, and sail away from Byzantium. It was only on 
the pressing instance of Anaxibius that he was induced 
to go back to Chrysopolis and conduct the army across ; 
on the understanding that he should depart immediately 
afterwards. 

Here at Byzantium, he received his first communication 
from the Thracian prince Seuthes ; who sent Medosades 
to offer him a reward if he would bring the army across. 
Xenophon replied that the army would cross ; that no re- 
ward from Seuthes was needful to bring about that move- 
ment ; but that he himself was about to depart, leaving the 
command in other hand.s. In point of fact, the whole 
army crossed with little delay, landed in Europe, and found 
themselves within the walls of Byzantium. Xenophon, 
who had come along with them, paid a visit shortly after- 
wards to his friend the governor Kleander, and took leave 
of him as about to depart immediately. But Kleander told 



Il8 RETREAT OF THE 

him that he must not think of departing until the army 
was out of the city, and that he would be held responsible 
if they stayed. In truth Kleander was very uneasy so 
long as the soldiers were within the walls, and was well 
aware that it might be no easy matter to induce them to 
go away. For Anaxibius had practised a gross fraud in 
promising them pay, which he had neither the ability nor 
the inclination to provide. Without handing to them 
either pay or even means of purchasing supplies, he issued 
orders that they must go forth with arms and baggage, 
and muster outside of the gates, there to be numbered for 
an immediate march ; any one who stayed behind being 
held as punishable. This proclamation was alike unex- 
pected and offensive to the soldiers, who felt that they had 
been deluded, and were very backward in obeying. Hence 
Kleander, while urgent with Xenophon to defer his de- 
parture until he had conducted the army outside of the 
walls, added — " Go forth as if you were about to march 
along with them ; when you are once outside, you may 
depart as soon as you please ; " Xenophon replied that this 
matter must be settled with Anaxibius, to whom accord- 
ingly both of them went, and who repeated the same 
directions, in a manner yet more peremptory. Though it 
was plain to Xenophon that he was here making himself a 
sort of instrument to the fraud which Anaxibius had prac- 
tised upon the army, yet he had no choice but to obey. 
Accordingly, he as well as the other generals put them- 
selves at the head of the troops, who followed, however 
reluctantly, and arrived most of them outside of the gates. 
Eteonikus (a Lacedaemonian officer of consideration, no- 
ticed more than once in preceding Grecian history) com- 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. IIQ 

manding at the gate, stood close to it in person ; in order 
that when all the Cyreians had gone forth, he might 
immediately shut it and fasten it with the bar. 

Anaxibius knew well what he was doing. He fully an- 
ticipated that the communication of the final orders would 
occasion an outbreak among the Cyreians, and was anx- 
ious to defer it until they were outside. But when there 
remained only the rearmost companies still in the inside 
and on their march, all the rest having got out — he 
thought the danger was over, and summoned to him the 
generals and captains, all of whom were probably near the 
gates superintending the march through. It seems that 
Xenophon, having given notice that he intended to depart, 
did not answer to this summons as one of the generals, 
but remained outside among the soldiers. "Take what 
supplies you want (said Anaxibius) from the neighboring 
Thracian villages, which are well furnished with wheat, 
barley, and other necessaries. After thus providing your- 
selves, march forward to the Chersonesus,^ and there 
Kyniskus will give you pay." 

This was the first distinct intimation given by Anax- 
ibius that he did not intend to perform his promise of find- 
ing pay for the soldiers. Who Kyniskus was we do not 
know, nor was he probably known to the Cyreians ; but 
the march here enjoined was at least 150 miles, and might 
be much longer. The route was not indicated, and the 
generals had to inquire from Anaxibius whether they were 
to go by what was called the Holy Mountain (that is, by 

* The Chersonesus (the peninsula) : a peninsula of Southern Thrace, 
opposite Asia Minor, having numerous Greek cities, and noted for its abun- 
dance of grain, much of which was exported to Athens. 



120 RETREAT OF THE 

the shorter hne, skirting the northern coast of the Propon- 
tis), or by a more inland and circuitous road through Thrace ; 
— also whether they were to regard the Thracian prince, 
Seuthes, as a friend or an enemy. 

§ 17. Mutiny of the army in leaving Byzantium. 

Instead of the pay which had been formally promised to 
them by Anaxibius if they would cross over from Asia to 
Byzantium, the Cyreians thus found themselves sent away 
empty-handed to a long march — through another barbar- 
ous country, with chance-supplies to be obtained only by 
their own efforts, — and at the end of it a lot unknown 
and uncertain ; while, had they remained in Asia, they 
would have had at any rate the rich satrapy of Pharnabazus 
within their reach. To perfidy of dealing was now added 
a brutal ejectment from Byzantium, without even the com- 
monest manifestations of hospitality ; contrasting point- 
edly with the treatment which the army had recently ex- 
perienced at Trapezus, Sinope, and Herakleia; where they 
had been welcomed not only by compliments on their past 
achievements, but also by an ample present of flour, meat, 
and wine. Such behavior could not fail to provoke the 
most violent indignation in the bosoms of the soldiery ; 
and Anaxibius had therefore delayed giving the order 
until the last soldiers were marching out, thinking that 
the army would hear nothing of it until the generals came 
out of the gates to inform them ; so that the gates would 
be closed, and the walls manned to resist an assault from 
without. But his calculations were not realized. Either 
one of the soldiers passing by heard him give the order, 
or one of the captains forming his audience stole away 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 121 

from the rest, and hastened forward to acquaint his com- 
rades on the outside. The bulk of the army, already 
irritated by the inhospitable way in which they had been 
thrust out, needed nothing farther to inflame them into 
spontaneous mutiny and aggression. While the generals 
within (who either took the communication more patiently, 
or at least, looking farther forward, felt that any attempt 
to resent or resist the ill-usage of the Spartan admiral 
would only make their position worse) were discussing 
with Anaxibius the details of the march just enjoined — 
the soldiers without, bursting into spontaneous movement, 
with a simultaneous and fiery impulse, made a rush back 
to get possession of the gate. But Eteonikus, seeing their 
movement, closed it without a moment's delay, and fastened 
the bar. The soldiers on reaching the gate and finding 
it barred, clamored loudly to get it opened, threatened 
to break it down, and even began to knock violently 
against it. Some ran down to the sea-coast, and made 
their way into the city round the line of stones at the base 
of the city wall, which protected it against the sea ; while 
the rearmost soldiers who had not yet marched out, seeing 
what was passing, and fearful of being cut off from their 
comrades, assaulted the gate from the inside, severed the 
fastenings with axes, and threw it wide open to the army. 
All the soldiers then rushed up, and were soon again in 
Byzantium. 

Nothing could exceed the terror of the Lacedaemonians 
as well as of the native Byzantines, when they saw the 
excited Cyreians again within the walls. The town seemed 
already taken and on the point of being plundered. Neither 
Anaxibius nor Eteonikus took the smallest means of re- 
sistance, nor stayed to brave the approach of the soldiers. 



122 RETREAT OF THE 

whose wrath they were fully conscious of having deserved. 
Both fled to the citadel — the former first running to the 
seashore, and jumping into a fishing-boat to go thither by 
sea. He even thought the citadel not tenable with its 
existing garrison, and sent over to Chalkedon for a rein- 
forcement. Still more terrified were the citizens of the 
town. Every man in the market-place instantly fled ; 
some to their houses, others to the merchant vessels in 
the harbor, others to the triremes or ships of war, which 
they hauled down to the water, and thus put to sea. 

To the deception and harshness of the Spartan admiral, 
there was thus added a want of precaution in the manner 
of execution, which threatened to prove the utter ruin of 
Byzantium. For it was but too probable that the Cyreian 
soldiers, under the keen sense of recent injury, would sati- 
ate their revenge, and reimburse themselves for the want 
of hospitality towards them, without distinguishing the 
Lacedaemonian garrison from the Byzantine citizens ; and 
that too from mere impulse, not merely without orders, 
but in spite of prohibitions, from their generals. Such 
was the aspect of the case, when they became again as- 
sembled in a mass within the gates ; and such would prob- 
ably have been the reality, had Xenophon executed his 
design of retiring earlier, so as to leave the other generals 
acting without him. Being on the outside along with the 
soldiers, Xenophon felt at once, as soon as he saw the 
gates forced open and the army again within the town, the 
terrific emergency which was impending : first, the sack of 
Byzantium — next, horror and antipathy, throughout all 
Greece, towards the Cyreian officers and soldiers indis- 
criminately — lastly, unsparing retribution inflicted upon 
all by the power of Sparta. Overwhelmed with these 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 1 23 

anxieties, he rushed into the town along with the multi- 
tude, using every effort to pacify them and bring them 
into order. They on their parts, delighted to see him 
along with them, and conscious of their own force, were 
eager to excite him to the same pitch as themselves, and to 
prevail on him to second and methodize their present 
triumph. " Now is your time, Xenophon (they exclaimed), 
to make yourself a man. You have here a city — you 
have triremes — you have money — -you have plenty of 
soldiers. Now then, if you choose, you can enrich us ; 
and we in return can make you powerful." — "You speak 
well (replied he) ; I shall do as you propose ; but if you 
want to accomplish anything, you must fall into military 
array forthwith." He knew that this was the first condi- 
tion of returning to anything like tranquillity ; and by great 
good fortune, the space called the Thrakion,^ immediately 
adjoining the gate inside, was level, open, and clear of 
houses ; presenting an excellent place of arms or locality 
for a review. The whole army, — partly from their long mil- 
itary practice, partly under the impression that Xenophon 
was really about to second their wishes and direct some 
aggressive operation — threw themselves almost of their 
own accord into regular array on the Thrakion ; the heavy- 
armed foot-soldiers eight deep, the light-armed foot-sol- 
diers on each flank. It was in this position that Xenophon 
addressed them as follows. 

§ 18. Xenophon's speech to the soldiers. 

" Soldiers, I am not surprised that you are incensed, and 
that you think yourselves scandalously cheated and ill-used. 

1 Thrakion : probably an open space or square near the Thracian Gate of 
the city. 



124 RETREAT OF THE 

But if we give way to our wrath — if we punish these 
Lacedaemonians now before us for their treachery, and 
plunder this innocent city — reflect what will be the conse- 
quence. We shall stand proclaimed forthwith as enemies 
to the Lacedaemonians and their allies, and what sort of a 
war that will be, those who have witnessed and who still 
recollect recent matters of history may easily fancy. We 
Athenians entered into the war against Sparta with a 
powerful army and fleet, an abundant revenue, and numer- 
ous tributary cities in Asia as well as Europe — among 
them this very Byzantium in which we now stand. We 
have been vanquished in the way that all of you know. 
And what then will be the fate of us soldiers, when we 
shall have as united enemies, Sparta with all her old allies 
and Athens besides, — Tissaphernes and the barbaric forces 
on the coast — and most of all the Great King ^ whom we 
marched up to dethrone and slay, if we were able } Is any 
man fool enough to think that we have a chance of making 
head against so many combined enemies .? Let us not 
plunge madly into dishonor and ruin, nor incur the enmity 
of our own fathers and friends : who are in the cities 
which will take arms against us — and will take arms 
justly, if we, who abstained from seizing any barbaric city, 
even when we were in force sufficient, shall nevertheless 
now plunder the first Grecian city into which we have been 
admitted. As far as I am concerned, may I be buried ten 
thousand fathoms deep in the earth rather than see you do 
such things ! and I exhort yoit too, as Greeks, to obey the 
leaders of Greece. Endeavor while thus obedient, to 
obtain your just rights ; but if you should fail in this, 
rather submit to injustice than cut yourselves off from the 

1 The Great King : the King of Persia. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 1 25 

Grecian world. Send to inform Anaxibius, that we have 
entered the city, not with a view to commit any violence, 
but in the hope, if possible, of obtaining from him the 
advantages which he promised us. If we fail, we shall at 
least prove to him that we quit the city not under his 
fraudulent manoeuvres, but under our own sense of the 
duty of obedience." 

This speech completely arrested the impetuous impulse 
of the army, brought them to a true sense of their situa- 
tion, and induced them to adopt the proposition of Xeno- 
phon. They remained unmoved in their position on the 
Thrakion, while three of the captains were sent to com- 
municate with Anaxibius. While they were thus waiting, 
a Theban named Koeratadas approached, who had once 
commanded in Byzantium under the Lacedaemonians dur- 
ing the previous war. He had now become a sort of pro- 
fessional general looking out for an army to command 
wherever he could find one, and offering his services to 
any city which would engage him. He addressed the 
assembled' Cyreians, and offered, if they would accept him 
for their general, to conduct them against the Delta ^ of 
Thrace (the space included between the north-west corner 
of the Propontis 2 and the south-west corner of the Euxine), 
which he asserted to be a rich territory presenting great 
opportunity of plunder : he further promised to furnish 
them with ample subsistence during the march. Presently 
the envoys returned, bearing the reply of Anaxibius ; who 
received the message favorably, promising that not only 
the army should have no cause to regret their obedience, 

1 Delta : so named because it resembled the Greek capital letter Delta, A, 
corresponding to the English D; hence a triangular-shaped piece of land. 

2 Propontis (now, the Sea of Marmora) : between Asia and Europe. 



126 RETREAT OF THE 

but that he would both report their good conduct to the 
authorities at home, and do everything in his own power to 
promote their comfort. He said nothing farther about 
taking them into pay ; that delusion having now answered 
its purpose. The soldiers, on hearing his communication, 
adopted a resolution to accept Koeratadas as their future 
commander, and then marched out of the town. As soon 
as they were on the outside, Anaxibius, not content with 
closing the gates against them, made public proclamation 
that if any one of them were found in the town, he should 
be sold forthwith into slavery. 

There are few cases throughout Grecian history in which 
an able discourse has been the means of averting so much 
evil, as was averted by this speech of Xenophon to the 
army in Byzantium. Nor did he ever, throughout the 
whole period of his command, render to them a more signal 
service. The miserable consequences, which would have 
ensued, had the army persisted in their aggressive impulse 
— first, to the citizens of the town, ultimately to them- 
selves, while Anaxibius, the only guilty person, had the 
means of escaping by sea, even under the worst circum- 
stances — are stated by Xenophon rather under than above 
the reality. At the same time no orator ever undertook 
a more difficult case, or achieved a fuller triumph over 
unpromising conditions. If we consider the feelings and 
position of the army at the instant of their breaking into 
the town, we shall be astonished that any commander could 
have arrested their movements. Though fresh from all 
the glory of their retreat, they had been first treacherously 
entrapped over from Asia, next roughly ejected by Anax- 
ibius ; and although it may be said truly that the citizens 
of Byzantium had no concern either in the one or the 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 12/ 

Other, yet little heed is commonly taken, in military oper- 
ations, to the distinction between garrison and citizens in 
an assailed town. Having arms in their hands, with con- 
sciousness of force arising out of their exploits in Asia, the 
Cyreians were at the same time inflamed by the oppor- 
tunity both of avenging a gross recent injury, and enrich- 
ing themselves in the process of execution ; to which we 
may add, the excitement of that rush whereby they- had 
obtained re-entry, and the farther fact that, without the 
gates they had nothing to expect excei^t poor, hard, unin- 
viting service in Thrace. With soldiers already possessed 
by an overpowering impulse of this nature, what chance 
was there that a retiring general, on the point of quitting 
the army, could so work upon their minds as to induce 
them to renounce the prey before them ? Xenophon had 
nothing to invoke except distant considerations, partly of 
Hellenic reputation, chiefly of prudence ; considerations 
indeed of unquestionable reality and prodigious magni- 
tude, yet belonging all to a distant future, and therefore of 
little comparative force, except when set forth in magni- 
fied characters by the orator. How powerfully he worked 
upon the minds of his hearers, so as to draw forth these 
far- removed dangers from the cloud of present sentiment 
by which they were overlaid — how skilfully he employed 
in illustration the example of his own native city — will be 
seen by all who study his speech. Never did his Athenian 
accomplishments — his talent for giving words to important 
thoughts — his promptitude in seizing a present situation 
and managing the sentiments of an impetuous multitude 
— appear to greater advantage than when he was thus 
suddenly called forth to meet a terrible emergency. His 
pre-established reputation and the habit of obeying his 



128 RETREAT OF THE 

orders, were doubtless essential conditions of success. But 
none of his colleagues in command would have been able 
to accomplish the like memorable change on the minds of 
the soldiers, or to procure obedience for any simple authori- 
tative restraint ; nay, it is probable, that if Xenophon had 
not been at hand, the other generals would have followed 
the passionate movement, even though they had been 
reluctant — from simple inability to repress it. Again 
— whatever might have been the accomplishments of 
Xenophon, it is certain that even Jie would not have been 
able to work upon the minds of these excited soldiers, had 
they not been Greeks and citizens as well as soldiers, — 
bred in Hellenic sympathies and accustomed to Hellenic 
order, with authority operating in part through voice and 
persuasion, and not through the Persian whip and instru- 
ments of torture. The memorable discourse on the Thra- 
kion at Byzantium illustrates the working of that persua- 
sive agency which formed one of the permanent forces 
and conspicuous charms of Hellenism. It teaches us that 
if the orator could sometimes accuse innocent defendants 
and pervert well-disposed assemblies — a part of the case 
which historians of Greece often present as if it were the 
whole — he could also, and that in the most trying emer- 
gencies, combat the strongest force of present passion, and 
bring into vivid presence the half-obscured lineaments of 
long-sighted reason and duty. 



§ 19. The army finally leaves Byzantium ; Seuthes offers to 

hire them. 

After conducting the army out of the city, Xenophon 
sent, through Kleander, a message to Anaxibius, request- 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 1 29 

ing that he himself might be allowed to come in again 
singly, in order to take his departure by sea. His request 
was granted, though not without much difficulty ; upon 
which he took leave of the army under the strongest ex- 
pressions of affection and gratitude on their part and went 
into Byzantium along with Kleander; while on the next 
day Koeratadas came to assume the command according 
to agreement, bringing with him a prophet, and beasts to 
be offered in sacrifice. There followed in his train twenty 
men carrying sacks of barley-meal, twenty more with jars 
of wine, three bearing olives, and one man with a bundle 
of garlic and onions. All these provisions being laid 
down, Koeratadas proceeded to offer sacrifice, as a pre- 
liminary to the distribution of them among the soldiers. 
On the first day, the sacrifices being unfavorable, no dis- 
tribution took place ; on the second day, Koeratadas was 
standing with the wreath on his head at the altar, and with 
the victims beside him, about to renew his sacrifice — when 
Timasion and the other officers interfered, desired him to 
abstain, and dismissed him from the command. Perhaps 
the first unfavorable sacrifices may have partly impelled 
them to this proceeding. But the main reason was, the 
scanty store, inadequate even to one day's subsistence for 
the army, brought by Koeratadas — and the obvious in- 
sufficiency of his means. 

On the departure of Koeratadas, the army marched to 
take up its quarters in some Thracian villages not far from 
Byzantium, under its former officers ; who however could 
not agree as to their future order of march. Kleanor and 
Phryniskus, who had received presents from Seuthes, 
urged the expediency of accepting the service of that 
Thracian prince : Neon insisted on going to Chersonese, to 



130 RETREAT OF THE 

be under the Lacedaemonian officers in that peninsula (as 
Anaxibius had projected) ; in the idea that he, as a Lace- 
daemonian, would there obtain the command of the whole 
army ; while Timasion, with the view of re-establishing 
himself in his native city of Dardanus, proposed returning 
to the Asiatic side of the strait. 

Though this last plan met with decided favor among 
the army, it could not be executed without vessels. These 
Timasion had little or no means of procuring ; so that con- 
siderable delay took place, during which the soldiers, re- 
ceiving no pay, fell into much distress. Many of them 
were even compelled to sell their arms in order to get sub- 
sistence ; while others got permission to settle in some of 
the neighboring towns, on condition of being disarmed. 
The whole army was thus gradually melting away, much 
to the satisfaction of Anaxibius, who was anxious to see 
the purposes of Pharnabazus accomplished. By degrees, 
it would probably have been dissolved altogether, had not 
a change of interest on the part of Anaxibius induced him 
to promote its reorganization. He sailed from Byzantium 
to the Asiatic coast, to acquaint Pharnabazus that the 
Cyreians could no longer cause uneasiness, and to require 
his own promised reward. It seems moreover that Xeno- 
phon himself departed from Byzantium by the same op- 
portunity. When they reached Kyzikus, they met the 
Lacedaemonian Aristarchus ; who was coming out as a 
newly-appointed governor of Byzantium, to supersede 
Kleander, and who acquainted Anaxibius that Polus was 
on the point of arriving to supersede him as admiral. 
Anxious to meet Pharnabazus and make sure of his bribe, 
Anaxibius impressed his parting injunction upon Aristar- 
chus to sell for slaves all the Cyreians whom he might find 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 131 

at Byzantium on his arrival, and then pursued his voyage 
along the southern coast of the Propontis to Parium. But 
Pharnabazus, having already received intimation of the 
change of admirals, knew that the friendship of Anaxibius 
was no longer of any value, and took no farther heed of 
him ; while he at the same time sent to Byzantium to make 
the like compact with Aristarchus against the Cyreian 
army. 

Anaxibius was stung to the quick at this combination 
of disappointment and insult on the part of the satrap. 
To avenge it, he resolved to employ those very soldiers 
whom he had first corruptly and fraudulently brought 
across to Europe, cast out from Byzantium, and lastly, 
ordered to be sold into slavery, so far as any might yet be 
found in that town. He now resolved to bring them back 
into Asia for the purpose of acting against Pharnabazus. 
Accordingly he addressed himself to Xenophon, and or- 
dered him without a moment's delay to rejoin the army, 
for the purpose of keeping it together, of recalling the 
soldiers who had departed, and transporting the whole 
body across into Asia. He provided him with an armed 
vessel of thirty oars to cross over from Parium to Perin- 
thus, sending over a peremptory order to the Perinthians 
to furnish him with horses in order that he might reach 
the army with the greatest speed. Perhaps it would not 
have been safe for Xenophon to disobey this order, under 
any circumstances. But the idea of acting with the army 
in Asia against Pharnabazus, under Lacedaemonian sanc- 
tion, was probably very acceptable to him. He hastened 
across to the army, who welcomed his return with joy, and 
gladly embraced the proposal of crossing to Asia, which 
was a great improvement upon their forlorn and destitute 



132 RETREAT OF THE 

condition. He accordingly conducted them to Perinthus, 
and encamped under the walls of the town ; refusing, in 
his way through Selymbria, a second proposition from 
Seuthes to engage the services of the army. 

While Xenophon was exerting himself to procure trans- 
ports for the passage of the army at Perinthus, Aristarchus, 
the new governor, arrived there with two triremes from 
Byzantium. It seems that not only Byzantium, but also 
both Perinthus and Selymbria, were comprised in his gov- 
ernment as governor. On first reaching Byzantium to 
supersede Kleander, he found there no less than 400 of 
the Cyreians^ chiefly sick and wounded ; whom Kleander, 
in spite of the ill-will of Anaxibius, had not only refused 
to sell into slavery, but had billeted ^ upon the citizens, 
and tended with solicitude ; so much did his good feeling 
towards Xenophon and towards the army now come into 
play. We read with indignation that Aristarchus, immedi- 
ately on reaching Byzantium to supersede him, was not even 
contented with sending these 400 men out of the town ; 
but seized them, — Greeks, citizens, and soldiers as they 
were — and sold them all into slavery. Apprised of the 
movements of Xenophon with the army, he now came to 
Perinthus to prevent their transit into Asia ; laying an em- 
bargo on the transports in the harbor, and presenting him- 
self personally before the assembled army to prohibit the 
soldiers from crossing. When Xenophon informed him that 
Anaxibius had given them orders to cross, and had sent 
him expressly to conduct them — Aristarchus replied, 
" Anaxibius is no longer in functions as admiral, and I am 
governor in this town. If I catch any of you at sea, I will 
sink you." On the next day, he sent to invite the generals 

1 Billeted upon the citizens : assigned them quarters among the citizens, 
who were thus bound to provide for them. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 133 

and the captains to a conference within the walls. They 
were just about to enter the gates, when Xenophon, who 
was among them, received a private warning, that if he 
went in, Aristarchus would seize him, and either put him 
to death or send him prisoner to Pharnabazus. Accord- 
ingly Xenophon sent forward the others, and remained 
himself with the army, alleging the obligation of sacrific- 
ing. The behavior of Aristarchus — who, when he saw the 
others without Xenophon, sent them away, and desired 
that they would all come again in the afternoon — con- 
firmed the justice of his suspicions, as to the imminent 
danger from which he had been preserved by this acci- 
dental warning. It need hardly be added that Xenophon 
disregarded the second invitation no less than the first ; 
moreover, a third invitation, which Aristarchus afterwards 
sent, was disregarded by all. 

We have here a Lacedaemonian governor, not scrupling 
to lay a snare of treachery, as flagrant as that which Tis- 
saphernes had practised on the banks of the Zab, to entrap 
Klearchus and his colleagues — and that too against a 
Greek, and an officer of the highest station and merit, 
who had just saved Byzantium from pillage, and was now 
actually in execution of orders received from the Lacedae- 
monian admiral Anaxibius. Assuredly, had the accidental 
warning been withheld, Xenophon would not have escaped 
falling into this snare ; nor could we reasonably have charged 
him with imprudence — so fully was he entitled to count 
upon straightforward conduct under the circumstances. 
But the same cannot be said of Klearchus, who manifested 
lamentable credulity, nefarious as was the fraud to which 
he fell a victim. 

At the second interview with the other officers, Aris- 



134 RETREAT OF THE 

tarchus, while he forbade the army to cross the water, 
directed them to force their way by land through the 
Thracians who occupied the Holy Mountain, and thus to 
arrive at the Chersonese ; where (he said) they should 
receive pay. Neon the Lacedaemonian, with about 800 
heavy-armed foot-soldiers who adhered to his separate 
command, advocated this plan as the best. To be set 
against it, however, there was the proposition of Seuthes 
to take the army into pay ; which Xenophon was inclined 
to prefer, uneasy at the thoughts of being cooped up in 
the narrow peninsula of the Chersonese, under the abso- 
lute command of the Lacedaemonian governor, with great 
uncertainty both as to pay and as to provisions. More- 
over it was imperiously necessary for these disappointed 
troops to make some immediate movement : for they had 
been brought to the gates of Perinthus in hopes of passing 
immediately on shipboard ; it was midwinter — they were 
encamped in the open field, under the severe cold of 
Thrace — they had neither assured supplies, nor even 
money to purchase, if a market had been near. Xeno- 
phon, who had brought them to the neighborhood of 
Perinthus, was now again responsible for extricating them 
from this untenable situation ; and began to offer sacri- 
fices, according to his wont, to ascertain whether the gods 
would encourage him to recommend a covenant with 
Seuthes. The sacrifices were so favorable, that he him- 
self, together with a confidential officer from each of the 
generals, went by night and paid a visit to Seuthes, for 
the purpose of understanding distinctly his offers and pur- 
poses. 

Massades, the father of Seuthes, had been apparently a 
dependent prince under the great monarchy of the Odry- 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. ■ 1 35 

sian^ Thracians ; so formidable in the early years of the 
Peloponnesian war. But political commotions had robbed 
him of his principality over three Thracian tribes ; which 
it was now the ambition of Seuthes to recover, by the aid 
of the Cyreian army. He offered to each soldier one 
stater of Kyzikus (or nearly the same as that which they 
originally received from Cyrus) as pay per month ; twice 
as much to each captain — four times as much to each of 
the generals. In case they should incur the enmity of the 
Lacedaemonians by joining him, he guaranteed to them all 
the right of settlement and fraternal protection in his 
territory. To each of the generals, over and above pay, 
he engaged to assign a fort on the sea-coast, with a lot of 
land around it, and oxen for cultivation. And to Xeno- 
phon in particular, he offered the possession of Bisanthe, 
his best point on the coast. " I will also (he added, ad- 
dressing Xenophon) give you my daughter in marriage ; 
and if you have any daughter, I will buy her from you in 
marriage according to the custom of Thrace." Seuthes 
farther engaged never on any occasion to lead them more 
than seven days' journey from the sea, at farthest. 

§ 20. The army enters the service of Seuthgs. 

These offers were as liberal as the army could possibly 
expect ; and Xenophon himself, mistrusting the Lacedae- 
monians as well as mistrusted by them, seems to have 
looked forward to the acquisition of a Thracian coast- 
fortress and territory (such as Miltiades, Alkibiades, and 
other Athenian leaders had obtained before him) as a valu- 
able refuge in case of need. But even if the promise had 

^ Odrysian : from Odrysse, a numerous and powerful people of Thrace. 



136 RETREAT OF THE 

been less favorable, the Cyreians had no alternative ; for 
they had not even present supplies — still less any means 
of subsistence throughout the winter ; while departure by 
sea was rendered impossible by the Lacedaemonians. On 
the next day, Seuthes was introduced by Xenophon and 
the other generals to the army, who accepted his offers 
and concluded the bargain. 

They remained for two months in his service, engaged in 
warfare against various Thracian tribes, whom they enabled 
him to conquer and despoil ; so that at the end of that 
period, he was in possession of an extensive dominion, a 
large native force, and a considerable tribute. Though the 
suffering from cold was extreme, during these two months 
of full winter and amidst the snowy mountains of Thrace, 
the army were nevertheless enabled by their expeditions 
along with Seuthes to procure plentiful subsistence ; which 
they could hardly have done in any other manner. But 
the pay which he had offered was never liquidated ; at least, 
in requital of their two months of service, they received 
pay only for twenty days and a little more. And Xeno- 
phon himself, far from obtaining fulfilment of those splen- 
did promises which Seuthes had made to him personally, 
seems not even to have received his pay as one of the 
generals. For him, the result was singularly unhappy ; 
since he forfeited the good-will of Seuthes by importunate 
demand and complaint for the purpose of obtaining the 
pay due to the soldiers ; while they on their side, imputing 
to his connivance the non-fulfilment of the promise, be- 
came thus in part alienated from him. Much of his mis- 
chief was brought about by the treacherous intrigues 
and calumny of a corrupt Greek from Maroneia, named 
Herakleides; who acted as minister and treasurer to 
Seuthes. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 137 

Want of space compels me to omit the narrative given 
by Xenophon, both of the relations of the army with 
Suethes, and of the warfare carried on against the hostile 
Thracian tribes — interesting as it is from the juxtaposi- 
tion of Greek and Thracian manners. It seems to have 
been composed by Xenophon under feelings of acute per- 
sonal disappointment, and probably in refutation of calum- 
nies against himself as if he had wronged the army. Hence 
we may trace in it a tone of exaggerated querulousness, 
and complaint that the soldiers were ungrateful to him. 
It is true that a portion of the army, under the belief that 
he had been richly rewarded by Seuthes while they had 
not obtained their stipulated pay, expressed virulent senti- 
ments and falsehoods against him. Until such suspicions 
were refuted, it is no wonder that the army were alienated ; 
but they were perfectly willing to hear both sides — and 
Xenophon triumphantly disproved the accusation. That 
in the end, their feelings towards him were those of esteem 
and favor, stands confessed in his own words, proving that 
the ingratitude of which he complains was the feeling of 
some indeed, but not of all. 

It is hard to say however what would have been the 
fate of this gallant army, when Seuthes, having obtained 
from their arms in two months all that he desired, had 
become only anxious to send them off without pay — had 
they not been extricated by a change of interest and policy 
on the part of all-powerful Sparta. The Lacedaemonians 
had just declared war against Tissaphernes and Pharna- 
bazus ; sending Thimbron into Asia to commence military 
operations. They then became extremely anxious to trans- 
port the Cyreians across to Asia, which their governor 
Aristarchus had hitherto prohibited — and to take them 



138 RETREAT OF THE 

into permanent pay ; for which purpose two Lacedaemo- 
nians, Charminus and Polynikus, were commissioned by 
Thimbron to offer to the army the same pay as he had 
promised, though not paid, by Seuthes ; and as had been 
originally paid by Cyrus. Seuthes and Herakleides, eager 
to hasten the departure of the soldiers, endeavored to take 
credit with the Lacedaemonians for assisting their views. 
Joyfully did the army accept this offer, though complaining 
loudly of the fraud practised upon them by Seuthes ; which 
Charminus, at the instance of Xenophon, vainly pressed 
the Thracian prince to redress. He even sent Xenophon 
to demand the arrear of pay in the name of the Lacedae- 
monians, which afforded to the Athenian an opportunity 
of administering a severe lecture to Seuthes. But the 
latter was not found so accessible to the workings of elo- 
quence as the Cyreian assembled soldiers. Nor did Xeno- 
phon obtain anything beyond a miserable dividend upon 
the sum due : — together with evil expressions towards him- 
self personally — an invitation to remain in his service with 
1000 heavy-armed soldiers instead of going to Asia with 
the army — and renewed promises, not likely now to find 
much credit, of a fort and a grant of lands. 

§ 21. Xenophon crosses over with the army to Asia. 

When the army, now reduced by losses and dispersions, 
to 6000 men, was prepared to cross into Asia, Xenophon 
was desirous of going back to Athens, but was persuaded 
to remain with them until the junction with Thimbron. 
He was at this time so poor, having scarcely enough to 
pay for his journey home, that he was obliged to sell his 
horse at Lampsakus, the Asiatic town where the army 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 139 

landed. Here he found Eukleides, a Phliasian^ prophet 
with whom he had been wont to hold intercourse and offer 
sacrifice at Athens. This man, having asked Xenophon 
how much he had acquired in the expedition, could not be- 
lieve him when he affirmed his poverty. But when they 
proceeded to offer sacrifice together, from some animals 
sent by the Lampsakenes as a present to Xenophon, Eu- 
kleides had no sooner inspected the entrails of the victims, 
than he told Xenophon that he fully credited the statement. 
" I see (he said) that even if money shall be ever on its way 
to come to you, you yourself will be a hindrance to it, even 
if there be no other (here Xenophon acquiesced) : Zeus 
(the Gracious ^) is the real bar. Have you ever sacrificed to 
him, with entire burnt-offerings, as we used to do together 
at Athens .'' " " Never (replied Xenophon), throughout the 
whole march." "Do so now, then (said Eukleides), and it 
will be for your advantage." The next day, on reaching 
Ophrynium, Xenophon obeyed the injunction ; sacrificing 
little pigs entire to Zeus the Gracious, as was the custom 
at Athens during the public festival called Diasia.^ And 
on the very same day he felt the beneficial effects of the 
proceeding ; for Biton and another envoy came from the 
Lacedaemonians with an advance of pay to the army, and 

^ Phliasian : from Phlifls, a city of Peloponnesus. 

2 It appears that the epithet (the Gracious) is here applied to Zeus in the 
same conciliatory sense as the denomination Euinenides (Well or Kindly- 
disposed) to the avenging goddesses. Zeus is conceived as having actually 
inflicted, or being in a disposition to inflict, evil : the sacrifice to him under 
this surname represents a sentiment of fear, and is one of atonement, ex- 
piation, or purification, destined to avert his displeasure; but the surname 
itself is to be interpreted so as to designate, not the actual disposition of Zeus 
(or of other gods), but that disposition which the sacrifice is intended to 
bring about in him. (Grote.) 

'^ Diasia : a Greek festival, celebrated in honor of Zeus (Jupiter) the 
Gracious. 



140 RETREAT OF THE 

dispositions so favorable to himself, that they bought back 
for him his horse, which he had just sold at Lampsakus 
for fifty darics. This was equivalent to giving him more 
than one year's pay in hand (the pay which he would have 
received as general being four darics per month, or four 
times that of the soldier), at a time when he was known to 
be on the point of departure, and therefore would not stay 
to earn it. The shortcomings of Seuthes were now made 
up with immense interest, so that Xenophon became bet- 
ter off than any man in the army ; though he himself slurs 
over the magnitude of the present, by representing it as a 
delicate compliment to restore to him a favorite horse. 

Thus gratefully and instantaneously did Zeus the Gra- 
cious respond to the sacrifice which Xenophon, after a long 
omission, had been admonished by Eukleides to offer. 
And doubtless Xenophon was more than ever confirmed in 
the belief, which manifests itself throughout all his writ- 
ings, that sacrifice not only indicates, by the interior 
aspect of the immolated victims, the tenor of coming 
events — but also, according as it is rendered to the right 
god and at the right season, determines his will, and there- 
fore the course of events, for dispensations favorable or 
unfavorable. 

But the favors of Zeus the Gracious, though begun, were 
not yet ended. Xenophon conducted the army through 
the Troad,^ and across Mount Ida, to Antandrus ; from 
thence along the coast of Lydia, through the plain of 
Thebe and the town Adramyttium, leaving Atarneus on 
the right hand, to Pergamus ^ in Mysia ; a hill town over- 

1 Troad : the plain around Troy, the scene of the famous Trojan war, 
celebrated in Homer's Iliad. 

2 Pergamus : a city noted for its library of over 200,000 manuscript rolls, 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 141 

iianging the river and plain of Kaikus. This district was 
occupied by the descendants of the Eretrian^ Gongylus, 
who, having been banished, for embracing the cause of 
the Persians when Xerxes invaded Greece, had been re- 
warded (like the Spartan king Demaratus) with this sort 
of principality under the Persian empire. His descendant, 
another Gongylus, now occupied Pergamus, with his wife 
Hellas and his sons Gorgion and Gongylus. Xenophon 
was here received with great hospitality. Hellas acquainted 
him, that a powerful Persian, named Asidates, was now 
dwelling, with his wife, family, and property, in a tower 
not far off on the plain ; and that a sudden night march, 
with 300 men, would suffice for the capture of this valuable 
booty, to which her own cousin should guide him. Ac- 
cordingly, having sacrificed and ascertained that the vic- 
tims were favorable, Xenophon communicated his plan 
after the evening meal to those captains who had been 
most attached to him throughout the expedition, wishing 
to make them partners in the prolit. As soon as it became 
known, many volunteers, to the number of 600, pressed to 
be allowed to join. But the captains repelled them, declin- 
ing to take more than 300, in order that the booty might 
afford an ampler dividend to each partner. 

Beginning their march in the evening, Xenophon and 
his detachment of 300 reached about midnight the tower 
of Asidates. It was large, lofty, thickly built, and con- 
tained a considerable garrison. It served for protection to 
his cattle and. cultivating slaves around, like a baronial 

castle in the Middle Ages ; but the assailants neglected 

/ 

which were eventually removed to Alexandria, Egypt. Parchment, a name 
derived from this place, was invented here. 

^ Eretrian : pertaining to Eretria, a city of Ionia, Asia Minor. 



142 RETREAT OF THE 

this outlying plunder, in order to be more sure of taking 
the castle itself. Its walls however were found much 
stronger than was expected ; and although a breach was 
made by force about daybreak, yet so vigorous was the 
defence of the garrison, that no entrance could be effected. 
Signals and shouts of every kind were made by Asidates 
to procure aid from the Persian forces in the neighborhood ; 
numbers of whom soon began to arrive, so that Xenophon 
and his company were obliged to retreat. And their re- 
treat was at last only accomplished, after severe suffering 
and wounds to nearly half of them, through the aid of 
Gongylus with his forces from Pergamus, and of Prokles 
(the descendant of Demaratus) from Halisarna, a little 
farther off seaward. 

Though his first enterprise thus miscarried, Xenophon 
soon laid plans for a second, employing the whole army ; 
and succeeded in bringing Asidates prisoner to Pergamus, 
with his wife, children, horses, and all his personal prop- 
erty. Thus (says he, anxious above all things for the credit 
of sacrificial prophecy) the "previous sacrifices (those which 
had promised favorably before the first unsuccessful attempt) 
now came true." The persons of this family were, doubt- 
less redeemed by their Persian friends for a large ransom ; 
which, together with the booty brought in, made up a 
prodigious total to be divided. 

In making the division, a general tribute of sympathy 
and admiration was paid to Xenophon, in which all the 
army — generals, captains, and soldiers — and the Lacedae- 
monians besides — unanimously concurred. Like Aga- 
memnon at Troy, he was allowed to select for himself the 
picked lots of horses, mules, oxen, and other items of booty ; 
insomuch that he became possessor of a share valuable 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 1 43 

enough to enrich him at once, in addition to the fifty darics 
which he had before received. " Here then Xenophon (to 
use his own language) had no reason to complain of the 
god" (Zeus the Gracious). We may add — what he him- 
self ought to have added, considering the accusations which 
he had before put forth — that neither had he any reason 
to complain of the ingratitude of the army. 

§ 22. Xenophon takes leave of the army. Conclusion. 

As soon as Thimbron arrived with his own forces, and 
the Cyreians became a part of his army, Xenophon took 
his leave of them. Having deposited in the temple at 
Ephesus 1 that portion which had been confided to him as 
general, of the tenth set apart by the army at Kerasus for 
the Ephesian Artemis, he seems to have executed his 
intention of returning to Athens. He must have arrived - 
there, after an absence of about two years and a half, within 
a few weeks, at farthest, after the death of his friend and 
preceptor Sokrates,^ whose trial and condemnation have 

1 Temple of Ephesus : sacred to the goddess Artemis, or Diana, twin 
sister of Apollo. This temple ranked among the Seven Wonders of the 
world. It was held so sacred that it was used as a " safe-deposit " for treas- 
ures, which were secure here against robbery or war. See the interesting 
reference to it in Acts xix. 24-41. 

2 Sokrates : the philosopher and moralist, and the friend and instructor 
of Xenophon, had publicly taught, in the streets of Athens, for thirty years. 
His method was to convince people how little they really knew, by asking a 
series of searching questions which eventually led those whom he interrogated 
to confess their ignorance. " He taught that it is better to suffer wrong than 
to do wrong; and that the gods wished men to know them, not by beliefs and ^ 
observances, but by doing good." This teaching, which was misunderstood 
by many, together with the dislike — not to say hatred — which such a " cross- 
examining missionary " would inevitably excite, caused his trial for impiety 
or rejection of the popular deities. He was then over seventy. When asked 



144 RETREAT OF THE 

been recorded in my last volume. That melancholy event 
certainly occurred during his absence from Athens ; but 
whether it had come to his knowledge before he reached 
the city, we do not know. How much grief and indigna- 
tion it excited in his mind, we may see by his collection of 
memoranda respecting the life and conversations of Sok- 
rates, known by the name of Memorabilia, and probably 
put together shortly after his arrival. 

That he was again in Asia three years afterwards, on 
military service under the Lacedaemonian king Agesilaus, 
is a fact attested by himself ; but at what precise moment 
he quitted Athens for his second visit to Asia, we are left 
to conjecture. I incline to believe that he did not remain 
many months at home, but that he went out again in the 
next spring to rejoin the Cyreians in Asia — became again 
their commander — and served for two years under the 
Spartan general Derkyllidas before the arrival of Agesi- 
laus. Such military service would doubtless be very much 
to his taste ; while a residence at Athens, then subject and 
quiescent, would probably be distasteful to him ; both from 
the habits of command which he had contracted during the 
previous two years, and from feelings arising out of the 
death of Sokrates. After a certain interval of repose, he 
would be disposed to enter again upon the war against 
his old enemy Tissaphernes ; and his service went on when 
Agesilaus arrived to take the command. 

But during the two years after this latter event, Athens 

whether he had prepared his defence, he replied " that his whole life had 
been a preparation, since he had spent it in studying what was right and en- 
deavoring to do it." Condemned by the judges to drink poison, he spent 
y the last hours of his life conversing with his friends on the immortality of 
' the soul. Xenophon has left an entertaining and valuable sketch of his 
beloved master. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 145 

became a party to the war against Sparta, and entered into 
conjunction with the king of Persia as well as with the 
Thebans and others ; while Xenophon, continuing his ser- 
vice as commander of the Cyreians, and accompanying 
Agesilaus from Asia back into Greece, became engaged 
against the Athenian troops and their Boeotian allies at 
the bloody battle of Koroneia. Under these circumstances, 
we cannot wonder that the Athenians passed sentence of'' 
banishment against him ; ^ not because he had originally 
taken part in aid of Cyrus against Artaxerxes — nor be- 
cause his political sentiments were unfriendly to democ- 
racy, as has been sometimes erroneously affirmed — but 
because he was now openly in arms, and in conspicuous 
command, against his own country. Having thus become 
an exile, Xenophon was allowed by the Lacedaemonians to 
settle at Skillus, one of the villages of Triphylia, near 
Olympia in Peloponnesus, which they had recently emanci- 
pated from the Eleians. At one of the ensuing Olympic 
festivals,^ Megabyzus, the superintendent of the temple 
of Artemis at Ephesus, came over as a spectator ; bring- 
ing with him the money which Xenophon had dedicated 
therein to the Ephesian Artemis. This money Xenophon 
invested in the purchase of lands at Skillus, to be conse- 
crated in permanence to the goddess ; having previously 
consulted her by sacrifice to ascertain her approval of the 
site contemplated, which site was recommended to him by 
its resemblance in certain points to that of the Ephesian 

^ Banished : Xenophon was banished for attachment to Sparta against 
his country — Athens. (Grote.) 

2 Olympic festivals : the greatest of the rehgious festivals among the 
Greeks. It was held at Olympia every four years in honor of Zeus (Olympian 
Jove), and was celebrated by games and contests lasting several weeks. All 
Greece sent delegations to attend and take part in the festival. 



146 RETREAT OF THE 

temple. Thus, there was near each of them a river called 
by the same name Selinus, having in it fish and a shelly 
bottom. Xenophon constructed a chapel, an altar, and a 
statue of the goddess made of cypress-wood : all exact 
copies, on a reduced scale, of the temple and golden statue 
at Ephesus. A column placed near them was inscribed 
with the following words — " This spot is sacred to Arte- 
mis. Whoever possesses the property and gathers its 
fruits, must sacrifice to her the tenth every year, and keep 
the chapel in repair out of the remainder. Should any 
one omit this duty, the goddess herself will take the omis- 
sion in hand." 

Immediately near the chapel was an orchard of every 
description of fruit-trees, while the estate around comprised 
an extensive range of meadow, woodland, and mountain — 
with the still loftier mountain called Pholoe adjoining. 
There was thus abundant pasture for horses, oxen, sheep, 
and also excellent hunting-ground near, for deer and other 
game ; advantages not to be found near the Artemision ^ at 
Ephesus. Residing hard by on his own property, allotted 
to him by the Lacedaemonians, Xenophon superintended 
this estate as steward for the goddess ; looking perhaps to 
the sanctity of her name for protection from disturbance 
by the Eleians, who viewed with a jealous eye the Lacedae- 
monians at Skillus, and protested against the peace and 
convention promoted by Athens after the battle of Leuk- 
tra, because it recognized that place, along with the town- 
ships of Triphylia, as having the right of self-government. 
Every year he made a splendid sacrifice, from the tenth of 
all the fruits of the property ; to which solemnity not only 
all the Skilluntines, but also all the neighboring villages, 

1 Artemision : the temple of Artemis or Diana. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 14/ 

were invited. Booths were erected for the visitors, to 
whom the goddess furnished (this is the language of Xen- 
ophon) an ample dinner of barley-meal, wheaten loaves, 
meat, game, and sweetmeats ; the game being provided by 
a general hunt, which the sons of Xenophon conducted, 
and in which all the neighbors took part if they chose. 
The produce of the estate, saving this tithe or tenth and 
subject to the obligation of keeping the holy building in 
repair, was enjoyed by Xenophon himself. He had a keen 
relish for both hunting and horsemanship, and was among 
the first authors, so far as we know, who ever made these 
pursuits, with the management of horses and dogs, the 
subject of rational study and description. 

Such was the use to which Xenophon applied the tithe 
voted by the army at Kerasus to the Ephesian Artemis ; 
the other tithe, voted at the same time to Apollo, he dedi- 
cated at Delphi in the treasure-chamber of the Athenians, 
inscribing upon the offering his own name and that of 
Proxenus. His residence being only at a distance of a 
little more than two miles from the great temple of Olym- 
pia,^ he was enabled to enjoy society with every variety of 
Greeks — and to obtain copious information about Grecian 
politics, chiefly from philo-Laconian informants, and with 
the Lacedaemonian point of view predominant in his own 
mind ; while he had also leisure for the composition of his 
various works. The interesting description which he him- 
self gives of his residence at Skillus implies a state of 
things not present and continuing, but past and gone ; 

1 Temple of Olympia: the magnificent temple of Zeus (Olympian Jove). 
It contained a colossal statue of the god, seated, and holding the globe and 
the sceptre as emblems of his power. The work was by the celebrated 
sculptor Phidias, and was carved in gold and ivory. 



14S RETREAT OF THE 

Other testimonies too, though confused and contradictory, 
seem to show that the Lacedaemonian settlement at Skillus 
lasted no longer than the power of Lacedccmon was ade- 
quate to maintain it. During the misfortunes which befell 
that city after the battle of Leuktra (371 B.C.), Xenophon, 
with his family and his fellow-settlers, was expelled by the 
Eleians, and is then said to have found shelter at Corinth. 
But as Athens soon came to be not only at peace, but in 
intimate alliance, with Sparta — the sentence of banish- 
ment against Xenophon was revoked ; so that the latter 
part of his life was again passed in the enjoyment of his 
birthright as an Athenian citizen and Knight. ^ Two of his 
sons, Gryllus and Diodorus, fought among the Athenian 
horsemen at the cavalry combat which preceded the battle 
of Mantineia, where the former was slain, after manifesting 
distinguished bravery ; while his grandson Xenophon be- 
came in the next generation the subject of a pleading before 
the Athenian court of justice, composed by the orator 
Deinarchus. 

On bringing this accomplished and eminent leader to 
the close of that arduous retreat which he had conducted 
with so much honor, I have thought it necessary to antici- 
pate a little on the future in order to take a glance at his 
subsequent destiny. To his exile (in this point of view 
not less useful than that of Thucydides) we probably owe 
many of those compositions from which so much of our 
knowledge of Grecian affairs is derived. But to the con- 
temporary world, the retreat, which Xenophon so success- 
fully conducted, afforded a far more impressive lesson than 
any of his literary compositions. It taught in the most 

^ Knight : originally one of an upper class of citizens ranking second in 
point of wealth and political power. 



TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 149 

Striking manner the impotence of the Persian land-force, 
manifested not less in the generals than in the soldiers. It 
proved that the Persian leaders were unfit for any sys- 
tematic operations, even under the greatest possible advan- 
tages, against a small number of disciplined warriors reso- 
lutely bent on resistance ; that they were too stupid and 
reckless even to obstruct the passage of rivers, or destroy 
roads, or cut off supplies. It more than confirmed the 
contemptuous language applied to them by Cyrus himself, 
before the battle of Kunaxa ; when he proclaimed that he 
envied the Greeks their freedom, and that he was ashamed 
of the worthlessness of his own countrymen. Against 
such perfect weakness and disorganization, nothing pre- 
vented the success of the Greeks along with Cyrus, except 
his own paroxysm of fraternal antipathy. And we shall 
perceive hereafter the military and political leaders of 
Greece — Agesilaus, Jason of Pherae, and others down to 
Philip and Alexander ^ — firmly persuaded that with a 
tolerably numerous and well-appointed Grecian force, com- 
bined with exemption from Grecian enemies, they could 
succeed in overthrowing or dismembering the Persian em- 
pire. This conviction, so important in the subsequent his- 
tory of Greece, takes its date from the retreat of the Ten 
Thousand. We shall indeed find Persia exercising an im- 
portant influence, for two generations to come — and at 
the peace of Antalkidas an influence stronger than ever — 
over the destinies of Greece. But this will be seen to 
arise from the treason of Sparta, the chief of the Hellenic 
world, who abandons the Asiatic Greeks, and even arms 
herself with the name and the force of Persia, for purposes 

1 Alexander the Great encouraged his soldiers before the battle of Issus by 
referring to the bravery of the Greeks in the " Retreat of the Ten Thousand." 



150 RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. 

of agg'randizement and dominion to herself. Persia is 
strong by being enabled to employ Hellenic strength 
against the Hellenic cause ; by lending money or a fleet 
to one side or the other of the Grecian parties, and thus be- 
coming artificially strengthened against both. But the 
Xenophontic Anabasis ^ betrays her real weakness against 
any vigorous attack ; while it at the same time exemplifies 
the discipline, the endurance, the power of self-action and 
adaptation, the susceptibility of influence from speech and 
discussion, the combination of the reflecting obedience of 
citizens with the mechanical regularity of soldiers — which 
confer such immortal distinction on the Hellenic character. 
The importance of this expedition and retreat, as an illus- 
tration of the Hellenic qualities and excellence, will justify 
the large space which has been devoted to it in this History. 

^ Anabasis (The March Up-country) : the name given by Xenophon to 
his account of the expedition of Cyrus the younger in his march from the 
shore of the Mediterranean against the King of Persia at Babylon. The 
narrative of the " Retreat of the Ten Thousand " forms part of the "Anabasis." 
Strictly speaking, this portion of the work should be called the Katabasis, or 
" The March Down " ; that is, from Babylonia to the Black Sea. 



SKETCH OF NAPOLEON. 

(Introductory to the Retreat from Moscow.) 

Napoleon Bonaparte was born at Ajaccio, Corsica (then re- 
cently ceded to France), in 1769. He was of Italian descent, and 
up to the age of ten could speak no French. In 1 779 he was sent 
to the military school of Brienne, in France, and there began his 
education for the army. As a lieutenant of artillery he did good 
service in behalf of the French revolutionary government at the 
siege of Toulon, which had revolted in 1793. 

Two years later that government was threatened by the rising 
of the people of Paris, headed by the National Guard. General 
Barras gave Napoleon an opportunity of showing his military skill 
in defence of the authorities, and the young officer, with his well- 
directed volleys of grape-shot, speedily quelled the insurrection. 
From that time Napoleon's name became familiar to the French 
people. 

In 1796 he married Madame Josephine Beauhamais, a West 
Indian lady, whose husband had been guillotined during the Revo- 
lution. About the same time Napoleon received the command of 
the Frertch army of Italy, and with his successful Italian campaign 
against Austria his reputation as a general began. 

From that date until his final abdication in 1815, he was almost 
constantly engaged in active war, or in preparations for it. During 
that period of twenty years he fought nearly the whole of Europe ; 
and up to his fatal Russian campaign in 181 2, he was victorious in 
every great battle which he personally directed in the open field. 
This constant success inspired him with the belief that he was 
invincible. As one of his friends said, " He appeared like a man 
walking in a halo of glory " ; and as an eminent statesman declared, 



I 5 2 SA'E TCH OF N A POLE ON. 

" France gave herself to him, absorbed herself in him, and seemed, 
at one time, no longer to think, except through him." From a 
simple artillery officer Napoleon had risen to be the greatest mili- 
tary commander in the world. His adopted country had placed 
him at the head of the government, and ended by making him 
Emperor. By his conquests he had enlarged France so that his 
imperial dominions extended to the Baltic on the north, and be- 
yond Rome on the southeast. 

To increase his glory and strengthen his power, he established 
a circle of dependent thrones and principalities, occupied by his 
brothers and his favorites, who were bound to obey his will and 
extend his sway. 

Of all the nations of Europe, England alone had been able to 
withstand him ; and in 1 8 1 2 London, Moscow, and St. Peters- 
burg were the only leading capitals whose streets his triumphant 
armies had not entered. 

It was when he was at the apparent summit of his power that 
Napoleon divorced his faithful Josephine, in order that he might 
marry the Princess Maria Louisa, daughter of the emperor of 
Austria. His object was to found a reigning family allied by blood 
with one of the oldest and proudest dynasties of Europe. In this, 
as in all other things, he seemed to accomplish his purpose, for 
from this union a son was born who, under the title of the " King 
of Rome," promised to perpetuate his father's name and power. 

Having secured an heir to his crown Napoleon now determined 
to rigorously carry out his " continental policy " of humbling Eng- 
land by shutting out her trade from every port of Europe. If this 
could be done effectually, as he believed was possible, he might 
hope to starve his old enemy into submission. 

The attempt to accomplish this design was the chief cause of 
the campaign against Russia, and of Napoleon's ultimate downfall. 
The Czar, contrary to the provisions of the treaty of Tilsit, made 
in 1807, was now opposed to continuing the blockade which ex- 
cluded English commerce from the Baltic. Not only did the 



SKETCH OF NAPOLEON. 153 

Russian sovereign refuse to yield on this point, but he went so far 
as to form an alliance with Sweden, in order to resist the French 
Emperor's demands more effectually. 

Napoleon accordingly declared war, and in the spring of 1812 
began gathering a force of over 600,000 men for the invasion of 
Russia. The Grand Army was chiefly French ; but the Emperor 
compelled his allies — Austria, Prussia, Italy, and the German 
States — to furnish large numbers of troops ; and he also received 
help from Poland. Besides the Imperial Guard, a body of picked 
men over 50,000 strong, under the command of Marshals Lefebvre, 
Mortier, and Bessieres, there were 1 3 corps. The French were led 
by Marshals Davoust, Oudinot, Ney, Murat, King of Naples ; the 
Italians by Prince Eugene ; the Poles by Poniatowski ; the Aus- 
trians by General Schwartzenberg ; the Germans and Prussians by 
St. Cyr, Regnier, Vandamme, Victor, Macdonald, and Augereau. 

The Poles fought for Napoleon in the belief that, if successful, 
he would secure their independence against the power of Russian 
oppression ; the other nations because they dared not refuse. 

This enormous force, which was double that of the Czar's, grad- 
ually collected on the banks of the Niemen, a river emptying into 
the Baltic, and forming part of the western boundary of Russia. 
The army crossed it in three divisions, at a considerable distance 
from each other.^ All were to meet at Wilna, a Polish city which 
Russia had seized in the dismemberment of that country, and which 
was about fifty miles southeast of the Niemen. 

Napoleon himself, at the head of one of the three divisions, 
with a force of over two hundred thousand, crossed the river at 
Kowno on the 23d of June, and began his march for Wilna.^ The 
weather was intensely hot, and in the course of a few weeks 

1 Namely, at Kowno, Pilony, south of Kowno, and Grodno, still further 
south. At Kowno a monument bears the following inscription in Russian : 
"In 1812 Russia was invaded by an army numbering 700,000 men. The 
army recrossed the frontier numbering 70,000." 

2 See map facing p. i. The upper dotted line represents the advance to 
Moscow; the lower, the line of retreat from that city. 



T54 SKETCH OF NAPOLEON. 

many thousand men fell out of the ranks through sickness and 
fatigue, and great numbers of horses died. The French hoped to 
encounter the Russian forces in a decisive battle before advancing 
far into the country. But it was the policy of the Czar not to 
fight, but to keep falling back, destroying all supplies as fast as he 
retreated, and so compelling the French to depend wholly upon 
their own resources. 

Napoleon himself confessed that the Russians had the advan- 
tage. They, he said, would be animated by love of their native 
land to repel invasion, and all private and public interests would 
unite them. The French, on the other hand, had nothing to urge 
them on but the love of conquest and of glory, without even the 
hope of plunder, for in those desolate regions there was nothing 
they could seize. 

The first real encounter was at Smolensk, a walled city on the 
Dnieper, about half way between Wilna and the ancient capital of 
Russia. After a day of hard fighting, the Russians fired the city and 
abandoned it. The French entered the smoking ruins. They were 
victors, but such a victory was almost as disheartening as a defeat. 
From that place a weary seven-days march brought the Grand Army 
to the village of Borodino, on the banks of the Kologa, a tribu- 
tary of the Moskwa.^ Here the Russian general, Kutusoff, had 
determined to make a stand in defence of that holy city of Mos- 
cow, not many leagues distant, for which every peasant stood ready 
to lay down his life. The result of the battle was in favor of 
Napoleon, but it cost him the fives of thirty thousand men to gain 
it ; and though the Russians lost double that number, they knew 
that the time was coming when the elements and the great barren 
spaces of their country would fight for them. This was the 7th of 
September. From that date the Russians resumed their old tac- 
tics and continued to slowly retreat, burning the villages and the 
crops as they fell back. At length, at noon of the 14th, the French 
emperor came in sight of " the city of the Czars." 

1 Moskwa, Kologa: these and other Russian geographical names are 
variously spelled. 



SKETCH OF NAPOLEON. 155 

What followed from that time until Napoleon, baffled and beaten, 
reached Paris, leaving the wreck of the Grand Army behind him, 
may best be learned from the ensuing narrative of Count S^gur,^ 
who was one of the generals in that army, an officer of the impe- 
rial staff, and an eye-witness of what he describes.^ 

His faithful history of that terrible disaster must necessarily be 
painful. It is in most respects the very opposite of Xenophon's 
account of the Retreat of the Ten Thousand, which precedes 
it. But the reader should reflect that the dark and sorrowful 
scenes of history may have lessons as salutary as the brighter ones ; 
and that the story of a great failure, involving the ruin and death 
of thousands, may be as instructive and as helpful as the story of 
a great success. In Xenophon's case, we have the spectacle of a 
man of more than ordinary ability, stimulated by difficulty and 
peril until he rises to real greatness of achievement. In Napo- 
leon's career we see a naturally " great mind dragged to ruin by 
its own faults " ; but such a man could not fall alone, and it was 
inevitable that a multitude should suffer with him and for him. 

D. H. M. 

^ Count Segur was elected a member of the French Academy, and his his- 
tory of the retreat has not only passed through many editions in France, but 
it has been translated into all the leading languages of Europe. 

^ The history of Napoleon after the Russian retreat will form the subject 
of a note at the close of Count Segur's narrative. 



NAPOLEON'S RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 



§1. Description of Mosco-w; arrival of the Czar. 

The ancient capital of Russia, appropriately denomi- 
nated by its poets "■ Moscoiv^ zvith tJie gilded ctipolas," was 
a vast and fantastic assemblage of two hundred and ninety- 
five churches, and fifteen hundred palaces, with their gar- 
dens and dependencies. These larger mansions of brick, 
and their parks, intermixed with neat houses of wood, and 
even thatched cottages, were spread over several square 

^ Moscow : the ancient capital of Russia is situated on the Moskwa river 
(a tributary of the Oka), from which the city derives its name. It first appears 
in history in the middle of the twelfth century. It early became the metropolis 
and seat of government, and continued so until a short time after the found- 
ing of St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, in 1703. 

For centuries Moscow was both the political and religious centre of the 
empire. Here the Czars were crowned, here they resided, here they were 
buried. Here, too, the patriarch, or former head of the Russian church, had 
his residence, amid cathedrals, monasteries, and shrines, which have always 
been regarded with peculiar reverence. 

To the Russian peasant the city still remains sacred. It is the heart, as it 
were, of his native land. He cherishes toward it the same feeling which the 
devout Mohammedan does for Mecca, or the devout Catholic for Rome. He 
calls it "Our Holy Mother Moscow"; and when he comes in sight of its 
gilded spires and cupolas he makes the sign of the cross, falls upon his knees, 
and utters a prayer. 

In the centre of Moscow stands the Kremlin, or fortress — for so the 
Tartar name is usually translated. This famous stronghold marks the original 
settlement. It covers nearly a hundred acres, and is situated on an eminence 
on the left bank of the river. It is triangular in shape, and is surrounded by 



158 jVAFOLEO.V'S 

leagues of irregular ground. They were grouped round 
the Kremlin, a lofty triangular fortress. The vast double 
enclosure in which this was situated was about two 
miles in circuit. It contained, first, several palaces, some 
churches, and rocky and uncultivated spots, and secondly, 
a prodigious bazaar, — the town of the merchants and shop- 
keepers, — where was displayed the collected wealth of the 
four quarters of the globe. 

These palaces, these edifices, na}'-, the very shops them- 
selves, were all covered with burnished and painted iron. 
The churches, each surmounted by a balcony and several 
steeples, terminating in golden balls, then the crescent, 
and lastly the cross, reminded the spectator of the history 
of this nation : it was Asia and its religion, at first victori- 

a lofty stone wall, considerably more than a mile in extent, which is pierced 
with live gates and surmounted by eighteen commanding towers. 

The Kremlin is almost a city in itself. Besides extensive barracks and an 
arsenal, with other government buildings, it contains the ancient palace of the 
Czars, a monastery, and several noted churches, one of which is the oldest and 
most venerated in Russia. 

Formerly the entire fortitication was encompassed by a broad, deep moat. 
This has been filled up, and now forms a spacious boulevard, with pleasure 
gardens, a library, a museum, and the gi'eat bazaar or market, where all kinds 
of merchandise are offered for sale. 

At the time of the French invasion Moscow is supposed to have had a 
population of at least 325,000; at the present time it has more than double 
that number. 

Napoleon entered the city September 14, 1S12. That very night it was 
set on fire, and the conflagration continued until the whole place, outside the 
Kremlin, was practically a heap of bricks and ashes. 

During the fire Napoleon was obliged to leave his quarters in the fortress 
and establish them in a suburb of the city, but later he returned to the 
Kremlin. 

He evacuated Moscow on October 19, not quite five weeks after he en- 
tered it. He found it a gi-eat metropolis. He left it a mass of ruins, where 
nothing any longer existed to support life. 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. ' 1 59 

ous, subsequently vanquished, so that finally the cross of 
Christ surmounted the crescent of Mohammed. 

A ray of sunshine caused this splendid city to glisten 
with a thousand varied colors. At sight of it the traveller 
paused, delighted and astonished. It reminded him of the 
prodigies with which the Eastern poets had amused his 
childhood. On entering it, a nearer view served but to 
heighten his astonishment : he recognized the nobles by 
the manners, the habits, and the different languages of 
modern Europe, and by the rich and airy elegance of their 
dress. He beheld, with surprise, the luxury and the 
Asiatic form of that of the traders, the peculiar costumes 
of the common people, and their long beards. He was 
struck by the same variety in the edifices ; and all this 
was tinged with a local and sometimes harsh coloring, such 
as befitted the country of which Moscow was the ancient 
capital. 

When, lastly, he observed the grandeur and magnifi- 
cence of the numerous palaces, the wealth which they dis- 
played, the luxury of the equipages, the multitude of slaves 
and of obsequious menials, the splendor of all these gor- 
geous spectacles, and heard the noise of those sumptuous 
festivities, entertainments, and rejoicings which incessantly 
resounded within its walls, he fancied himself transported 
to a city of kings — into the midst of an assemblage of 
princes, who had brought with them their manners, cus- 
toms, and attendants from every quarter of the world. 

These princes were nevertheless but subjects, still opu- 
lent and powerful subjects : grandees, vain of their ancient 
nobility, strong in their collected numbers and in the 
general ties of blood contracted during the seven centuries 
which this capital had existed. They were also landed 



l6o NAPOLEON'S 

proprietors, proud of their vast possessions ; for almost the 
whole territory of the government of Moscow belonged to 
them, and they there reigned over a million of serfs.^ 
Finally, they were nobles, resting with a patriotic and 
religious pride upon "the cradle and the tomb of their 
nobility"; for such is the appellation they give to Moscow. 

To this ancient capital necessity brought the Czar^ Alex- 
ander. His first appearance was in the midst of the 
assembled nobles. There everything was great : the cir- 
cumstances, the assembly, the speaker, and the resolutions 
which he inspired. ' His voice betrayed emotion : no sooner 
did he cease speaking, than one simultaneous cry burst 
from all hearts : " Sire, ask what you please ! we offer you 
everything ! take our all ! " 

One of the nobles then proposed the levy of a militia, 
and for its formation, the gift of one peasant or serf in 
twenty-five. But a hundred voices interrupted him, ex- 
claiming that " the country required a greater sacrifice ; 
that they should grant one serf in ten, ready armed, 
equipped, and supplied with provisions for three months." 
This was offering, for the single government of Moscow, 
80,000 men, and a great quantity of warlike stores. 

The latter proposition was immediately voted without 
discussion ; some say with enthusiasm ; and that it was 
executed in like manner, so long as the danger was at 
hand. Others attribute the consent of the assembly to 
a sentiment of submission alone ; which, indeed, in the 
presence of absolute power, is apt to absorb every other. 

^ Serfs : these serfs were slaves in all but name, and \\'ere bought and 
sold like cattle. They were emancipated by law in 1S61, the whole number 
throughout Russia then being over 21,000,000. 

- Czar: the correct Russian spelling of this word is said to be Tsar, which 
is now gradually coming into use in English. The title was first assumed liy 
Iv.m IV. (Ivan the Terrible) in 1533. 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. l6l 

They add, that on the breakhig up of the meeting, the 
principal nobles were heard to murmur among themselves 
against the extravagance of such a measure. "Was the 
danger, then, so pressing ? Did the Russian army, which, 
as they were t(jld, still numbered 400,000 men, no longer 
exist ? Why deprive thciii of so many peasants ? The 
service of these men would be, it is said, only temporary ; 
but who could ever hope for their return ? and was not 
even this an event to be dreaded ? Would these serfs, 
habituated to the irregularities of W9,r, bring back their 
former habits of submission ? Undoubtedly not ; they 
would return full of new sentiments and new ideas, with 
which they would infect the villages; they would there 
propagate a refractory spirit, which would give infinite 
trouble to the master by spoiling the slave." 

Be this as it may, the resolution of the assembly was 
generous, and worthy of so great a nation. The details 
arc of little consequence. We well know tliat it is the 
same everywhere; that everything in the world loses by 
being seen too near ; and, lastly, that nations should be 
judged by the general mass and by results. 

Alexander then addressed the mcrchant.s, but more 
briefly: he ordered the proclamation to be read to them, in 
which Napoleon was represented as "a perfidious wretch ; 
a Moloch, who, with treachery in his heart and loyalty on 
his lips, was striving to blot out Russia from the face of 
the earth." 

It is said that, at these words, his auditors, to whose 
strongly-marked and flushed faces their long beards im- 
parted a look at once antique, majestic, and wild, were 
inflamed with rage. Their eyes flashed fire ; they were 
seized with a convulsive fury, of which their stiffened 



1 62 NAPOLEON'S 

arms, their clenched fists, the gnashing of their teeth, and 
their subdued execrations, expressed the vehemence. The 
effect was correspondent. Their chief, whom they elect 
themselves, proved himself worthy of his station : he put 
down his name at once for 50,000 rubles.^ It was two- 
thirds of his fortune, and he paid it the next day. 

These merchants were divided into three classes, and 
they proceeded to fix the contribution for each ; but one 
of the assembly, who was included in the lowest class, 
declared that his patriotism would brook no limit, and he 
immediately subscribed a sum far surpassing the standard 
proposed : the others all followed his example more or less 
closely. Advantage was taken of their first emotions. 
Everything was at hand that was requisite to bind them 
irrevocably while they were yet together, excited by one 
another and by the words of their sovereign. 

The patriotic donation amounted, it is said, to two mil- 
lions of rubles. The other governments repeated, like so 
many echoes, the national cry of Moscow. The emperor 
accepted all ; but all could not be given immediately ; and 
when, in order to complete his work, he claimed the rest 
of the promised succor, he was obliged to have recourse 
to constraint, the danger which had alarmed some and 
inflamed others having by that time ceased to exist. 



§ 2. Alarm in Moscow at the advance of the French army j 
preparations for destroying the city. 

After the reduction of Smolensk,^ and when Napoleon 
reached Viazma, a town about one hundred and seventy 

1 Ruble (or Rouble) : a Russian silver coin vit^rth. about seventy-fiye, cents. 

2 Smolensk: see Introduction, " Xapoleon."'_ 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 1 63 

miles from Moscow, consternation reigned in Moscow. 
The great battle had not yet been lost, and already people 
began to abandon that capital. 

In his proclamation, the governor-general, Count Rostop- 
chin,i told the women that " he should not detain them, as 
the less fear there was, the less danger there would be ; 
but that their brothers and husbands must stay, or they 
would cover themselves with infamy." He then added 
encouraging particulars concerning the hostile force, which 
consisted, according to his statement, of " one hundred 
and fifty thousand men, who were reduced to the neces- 
sity of feeding on horseflesh. The emperor Alexander was 
about to return to his faithful capital ; eighty-three thou- 
sand Russians, recruits and militia, with eighty pieces of 
cannon were marching towards Borodino, to join Kutu- 
soff." 2 

He thus concluded : " If these forces are not sufficient, 
I will say to you, * Come, my Muscovite ^ friends, let us 
march also ! We will assemble one hundred thousand 
men ; we will take the image of the Blessed Virgin, and 
one hundred and fifty pieces of cannon, and put an end to 
the business at once ! ' " 

It has been remarked, as a purely local singularity, that 
most of these proclamations were in the scriptural style, 
and highly poetical in their character. 

At the same time, a sort of balloon of prodigious size 
was constructed by command of Alexander, not far from 
Moscow, under the direction of a German artificer. The 
destination of this aerial machine was to hover over the 

1 Rostopchin : (Ros-top-chen'). 

2 Kutusoff: commander-in-chief of the Russian army. 

3 Muscovite : a native of Muscovy, an old name for Russia. 



164 NAPOLEOX'S 

French army, to single out its chief, and destroy him by 
a shower of balls and fire. Several attempts were made 
to raise it, but without success, the springs by which the 
wings were to be worked always breaking. 

Rostopchin, nevertheless, affecting to persevere in the 
plan, is said to have caused a great quantity of rockets 
and other combustibles to be prepared. Moscow itself 
was destined to be the great infernal machine, the sudden 
nocturnal explosion of which was to destroy the emperor 
and his army. Should the enemy escape this danger, he 
would at least no longer have an asylum or resources ; and 
the horror of this tremendous calamity, charged to his ac- 
count, as had been the disasters of Smolensk, Viazma, and 
other towns, would not fail to rouse the whole of Russia.^ 

Adverse, therefore, to any treaty, this governor foresaw 
that in the populous capital, which the Russians them- 
selves style the oracle, the exemplar of the whole empire, 
Napoleon would have recourse to the weapon of revolution, 
the only one that would be left him to accomplish his pur- 
pose. For this reason he resolved to raise a barrier of fire 
between that great captain and all weaknesses, from what- 
ever quarter they might proceed, whether from the throne 
or from his countrymen, either nobles or senators ; and 
more especially between a population of serfs and the sol- 
diers of a free nation ; in short, between the latter and that 
mass of artisans and tradesmen who form in Moscow the 
commencement of an intermediate class ; a class for which 
the French Revolution was especially brought about. 

^ Rostopchin denied, in a work which he published, that he set fire to the 
city. He insisted that it \yas done by the French, together with the rabble of 
Moscow. It is now thought that the governor began the work of destruction, 
which was completed partly by the Russians and partly by the French. 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 1 65 

All the preparations were made in silence, without the 
knowledge either of the people, the proprietors of all 
classes, or perhaps of their emperor. The nation was 
ignorant that it was sacrificing itself. This is so strictly 
true, that, when the moment for execution arrived, we 
heard the inhabitants who had fled to the churches exe- 
crating this destruction. Those who beheld it from a dis- 
tance, the most opulent of the nobles, deceived like their 
peasants, charged us with it : and, in short, those by whom 
it was ordered threw the odium of it upon us, having 
engaged in the work of destruction in order to render us 
objects of detestation, and caring but little about the mal- 
edictions of so many unfortunate creatures, provided they 
could throw upon us the weight of them. 

The silence of Alexander leaves room to doubt whether 
he approved this dreadful determination or not. What 
part he took in the catastrophe is still a mystery to the 
Russians : either they are ignorant on the subject, or they 
make a secret of the matter : the effect of despotism, 
which enjoins ignorance or silence. 

Some think that no individual in the empire, excepting 
the sovereign, would have dared to take on himself so 
heavy a responsibility. His subsequent conduct disavowed 
without disproving it. Others are of opinion that this was 
one of the causes of his absence from the army, and that, 
not wishing to appear either to order or to forbid it, he 
would not stay to be a witness of the catastrophe. 

As to the general abandonment of the houses all the 
way from Smolensk, it was compulsory, the Russian army 
defending them till they were carried sword in hand, 
and describing us everywhere as destructive monsters. 
The country suffered but little from this emigration. The 



1 66 NAPOLEON'S 

peasants residing near the liigh-road escaped through by- 
ways to other villages belonging to their lords, where they 
found accommodation. 

The forsaking of their huts, made of trunks of trees laid 
one upon another, which a hatchet suffices for building, 
and of which a bench, a table, and an image constitute the 
whole furniture, was scarcely any sacrifice for serfs who 
had nothing of their own, whose persons did not even be- 
long to themselves, and whose masters were obliged to 
provide for them, since they were their property and the 
source of all their income. 

These peasants, moreover, in removing their carts, their 
implements, and their cattle, carried everything with them, 
most of them being able with their own hands to supply 
themselves with habitation, clothing, and all other necessa- 
ries : for these people are still in but the first stage of 
civilization, and far from that division of labor which 
denotes the extension and high improvement of commerce 
and of society. 

But in the towns, and especially in the great capital, how 
could they be expected to quit so many establishments, to 
resign so many conveniences and enjoyments, so much 
wealth, movable and immovable .'' and yet it cost little or 
no more to obtain the total abandonment of Moscow than 
that of the meanest village. There, as at Vienna, Berlin, 
and Madrid, the principal nobles hesitated not to retire on 
our approach ; for, with them, to remain would seem to be 
the same as to betray. But here, tradesmen, artisans, day- 
laborers, all thought it their duty to flee as well as the 
most powerful of the grandees. There was no occasion 
to command : these people have not yet ideas sufficient to 
judge for themselves, to distinguish and to weigh differ- 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 167 

ences ; the example of the nobles was sufficient. The few 
foreigners remaining at Moscow might have enlightened 
them ; some of these were exiled, and terror hindered the 
rest. 

It was, besides, an easy task to excite apprehensions of 
profanation, pillage, and devastation in the minds of people 
so cut off from other nations, and in the inhabitants of a 
city which had been so often plundered and burned by the 
Tartars. With these examples before their eyes, they 
could not await an impious and ferocious enemy but for 
the purpose of fighting him : the rest must necessarily 
shun his approach with horror, if they would save them- 
selves in this life or in the next. Thus obedience, honor, 
religion, fear, everything, in short, enjoined them to flee, 
with all that they could carry with them. 

A fortnight before our arrival, the departure of the 
records, the public chests and treasure, and that of the 
nobles and of the principal merchants, together with their 
most valuable effects, indicated to the rest of the inhabi- 
tants what course they should pursue. The governor, 
already impatient to see Moscow evacuated, appointed 
superintendents to expedite the emigration. 

On the 3d of September, a French woman, living in the 
city, ventured to leave her hiding-place, at the risk of being 
torn in pieces by the furious Muscovites. She wandered a 
long time through extensive quarters, the solitude of which 
astonished her, when a distant and doleful sound thrilled 
her with terror. It was like the funeral dirge of this vast 
city : fixed in motionless suspense, she beheld an immense 
multitude of persons, of both sexes, in deep affliction, 
carrying their effects and their sacred images, and leading 
their children along with them. Their priests, laden with 



1 68 NAPOLEON'S 

the sacred symbols of religion, headed the procession. 
They were invoking Heaven in hymns of lamentation, in 
which all of them joined with tears. 

On reaching the gates of the city, this crowd of un- 
fortunate creatures passed through them with painful 
hesitation : turning their eyes once more towards Moscow, 
they seemed to be bidding a last farewell to their holy 
city ; but, by degrees, their sobs and the doleful tones of 
their hymns died away in the vast plains by which it is 
surrounded. 

§ 3. Departure of the Russian governor from Moscow. 

Thus was this population dispersed in detail or in 
masses. The roads were covered to the distance of forty 
leagues by fugitives on foot, and several unbroken files of 
vehicles of every kind. At the same time, the measures 
of Rostopchin to prevent dejection and preserve order 
detained many of these unfortunate people till the very 
last moment. 

To this must be added the appointment of Kutusoff, 
which had revived their hopes, the false intelligence of a 
victory at Borodino, and, for those of moderate means, the 
hesitation natural at the moment of abandoning the only 
home which they possessed. Lastly, the inadequacy of the 
means of transport, either because at this time heavy 
requisitions for the exigencies of the army had reduced 
the number of vehicles, or because they were too small, as 
it is customary to make the carriages in this country very 
light, on account of the sandy soil, and of the roads, which 
may be said to be rather marked out than constructed. 

Kutusoff, although defeated at Borodino, had sent let- 
ters to all quarters announcing that he was victorious. 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 1 69 

He deceived Moscow, St. Petersburg, and even the com- 
manders of the other Russian armies. Alexander commu- 
nicated this false intelligence to his allies. In the first 
transports of his joy he hastened to the altars, loaded the 
army and the family of his general with honors and 
money, gave directions for rejoicings, returned thanks to 
Heaven, and appointed Kutusoff a field-marshal of the 
empire. 

Most of the Russians affirm that their emperor was 
grossly imposed upon by this report. They are still unac- 
quainted with the motives of such a deception, which at 
first procured Kutusoff unbounded favors, that were not 
withdrawn from him, and afterward, it is said, dreadful 
menaces, that were not put in execution. 

If we may credit several of his countrymen, who were 
perhaps his enemies, it would appear that he had two 
motives. In the first place, he wished not to shake by 
disastrous intelligence the little firmness which, in Russia, 
Alexander was generally, though erroneously, thought to 
possess. In the second, as his despatch would probably 
arrive on the very birthday of his sovereign, it is added 
that his object was to obtain from him the rewards for 
which this kind of anniversaries affords occasion. 

But at Moscow the delusive impression was of short 
continuance. The rumor of the destruction of half his 
army was almost immediately propagated in that city, 
from the singular commotion produced by extraordinary 
events, which is known frequently to spread almost instan- 
taneously to prodigious distances. Still, however, the lan- 
guage of the chiefs, the only persons who dared to speak, 
continued haughty and threatening : many of the inhabi- 
tants, trusting to it, remained ; but they were every day 



170 NAPOLEON'S 

more and more tormented by a painful anxiety. At nearly 
one and the same moment, they were transported with 
rage, elevated by hope, and overwhelmed with fear. 

During one of these periods of dejection and dismay, 
while, prostrate before the altars, or in their own houses 
before the images of their saints, they had abandoned all 
hope but in Heaven, shouts of joy were suddenly heard : 
the people instantly thronged the streets and the public 
places to learn the cause. Intoxicated with delight, their 
eyes were fixed on the cross of the principal church. A 
vulture had entangled himself in the chains which sup- 
ported it, and was held suspended by them. This was a 
certain presage to minds whose natural superstition was 
heightened by extraordinary anxiety : it was thus that 
their God would seize and deliver Napoleon into their 
power. 

Rostopchin took advantage of all these movements, 
which he excited or checked according as they were favor- 
able to him or otherwise. He caused the most diminutive 
to be selected from the prisoners taken from the French, 
and exhibited them to the people, that the latter might 
derive courage from the sight of their weakness ; and yet 
he emptied Moscow of every kind of supplies, in order to 
feed the vanquished and to famish the conquerors. This 
measure was easily carried into effect, as Moscow was pro- 
visioned in spring and autumn by water only, and in winter 
by sledges. 

He was still attempting to preserve, with a remnant of 
hope, the order that was necessary, especially in such a 
flight, when the effects of the disaster at Borodino were 
fully manifested. The long train of wounded, their groans, 
their garments and linen dyed with blood ; their most 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. IJl 

powerful nobles struck and overthrown like the rest : all 
this was a novel and alarming sight to a city which had for 
such a length of time been exempt from the horrors of 
war. The police redoubled their activity ; but the terror 
which they excited could not long make head against a 
still greater terror. 

Rostopchin once more addressed the people. He de- 
clared that " he would defend Moscow to the last extrem- 
ity ; that the courts were already closed, but that was of 
no consecjucncc ; that there was no occasion for tribunals 
to try the guilty " : he added that " in two days he would 
give the signal." He recommended to the people to "arm 
themselves with hatchets, and especially with three-pronged 
forks, as the French were not heavier than a sheaf of 
wheat." As for the wounded, he said he should cause 
" masses to be said, and the water to be blessed, in order 
to their speedy recovery. The next day," he added, "he 
should repair to Kutusoff, to take final measures for exter- 
minating the enemy." 

The Russian army, in their position in front of Moscow, 
numbered ninety-one thousand men, six thousand of whom 
were Cossacks,^ sixty-five thousand veteran troops (the 
remnant of one hundred and twenty-one thousand engaged 
at the Moskwa),^ and twenty thousand recruits, armed half 
with muskets and half with pikes. 

The French army, one hundred and thirty thousand 
strong the day before the great battle, had lost about forty 

1 Cossacks: a race of people inha1)iling the south of Russia. On account 
of their great skill in horsemanship they are largely employed in the Russian 
army as cavalry. 

^Moskwa: the French often spoke of the l)attlc of Borodino as the 
Battle of the Moskwa, though it is not on that river, hut on the Kologa, a 
tributary of it. The accounts of the number killed differ. 



1/2 NAPOLEON'S 

thousand men at Borodino, and still consisted of ninety 
thousand. Some regiments on the march, and the divis- 
ions of Laborde and Pino, had just joined it: so that, 
on its arrival before Moscow, it still amounted to nearly 
one hundred thousand men. Its march ^was retarded by 
six hundred and seven pieces of cannon, two thousand five 
hundred artillery carriages, and five thousand baggage- 
wagons : it had no more ammunition than would sufiice for 
one engagement. Kutusoff perhaps calculated the dispro- 
portion between his effective force and ours. On this 
point, however, nothing but conjecture can be advanced, 
for he assigned purely military motives for his retreat. 

Thus much is certain, that Kutusoff deceived Rostopchin 
to the very last moment. He even swore to him "by his 
gray hair that he would perish with him before Moscow," 
when all at once the governor was informed that, in a 
council of war held at night in the camp, it had been deter- 
mined to abandon the capital without a battle. 

Rostopchin was incensed at this intelligence, but his 
resolution remained unshaken. There was now no time to 
be lost ; no farther pains were taken to conceal from Mos- 
cow the fate that was destined for it ; indeed it was not 
worth while to dissemble for the sake of the few inhabi- 
tants who were left ; and, besides, it was necessary to 
induce them to seek their safety in flight. 

At night, therefore, emissaries went round, knocking at 
every door and announcing the conflagration. Fuses were 
introduced at every favorable aperture, especially into the 
shops covered with iron, in the tradesmen's quarter, and 
the fire-engines were carried off. The desolation had now 
attained its highest pitch, and each individual, according 
to his disposition, was either overwhelmed with despair or 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 1/3 

urged to a decision. Most of those who were left formed 
groups in the public places ; they crowded together, ques- 
tioned each other, and asked each other's advice ; while 
many wandered about at random, some depressed by terror, 
others in a frightful state of exasperation. At length the 
army, their last hope, deserted them : the troops began to 
traverse the city, and in their retreat they hurried along 
with them the still considerable remnant of its population. 

They departed by the Kolomna gate,^ surrounded by a 
multitude of women, children, and aged persons, in the 
deepest afifliction. The fields were covered with them. 
They fled in all directions, by every path, across the 
country, without provisions, and laden with such of their 
effects as, in their agitation, they had first laid their hands 
on. Some, for want of horses, had harnessed themselves 
to carts, and in this manner dragged along their infant 
children, a sick wife, or an infirm father ; in short, what- 
ever they held most dear. The woods afforded them 
shelter, and they subsisted on the charity of their country- 
men. 

On that day a terrific scene terminated this melancholy 
drama. This, the last day of Moscow, having arrived, 
Rostopchin collected together all whom he had been able 
to retain and arm. The prisons were thrown open. A 
squalid and disgusting crew tumultuously issued from 
them. These wretches rushed into the streets with fero- 
cious joy. Two men, a Russian and a Frenchman, the 
one accused of treason, the other of political indiscretion, 
were selected from among this horde, and dragged before 
Rostopchin, who fiercely reproached the Russian with his 

1 Kolomna gate: a gate leading to Kolomna, a town on the Moskwa 
River, 



174 NAPOLEON'S 

crime. He was the son of a tradesman, and had been 
apprehended while exciting the people to insurrection. A 
circumstance which occasioned alarm was the discovery 
that he belonged to a sect of German religious and politi- 
cal fanatics. His audacity had never failed him in prison. 
It was imagined, for a moment, that the spirit of equality 
had penetrated into Russia. He did not, however, disclose 
any accomplices. 

At this crisis his father arrived. It was expected that 
he would intercede for his son ; but, on the contrary, he 
insisted on his death. The governor granted him a few 
moments, that he might once more speak to and bless him. 
"What, I ! I bless a traitor ! " exclaimed the enraged Rus- 
sian, and, turning to his son, with a horrid voice and gest- 
ure he pronounced a curse upon him. 

This was the signal for his execution. The poor wretch 
was. struck down by an ill-directed blow of a sabre. He 
fell, but wounded only, and perhaps the arrival of the 
French might have saved him, had not the people per- 
ceived that he was yet alive. They forced the barrier, fell 
upon him, and tore him to pieces. 

The Frenchman, during this scene, was petrified with 
terror. " As for thee," said Rostopchin, turning towards 
him, " being a Frenchman, thou canst not but wish for the 
arrival of the French army : be free, then, and go and tell 
thy countrymen that Russia had but one traitor, and that 
he has been punished." Then, addressing himself to the 
wretches who surrounded him, he called them sons of Rus- 
sia, and exhorted them to make atonement for their crimes 
by serving their country. He was the last to quit the 
doomed city, and he then rejoined the Russian army. 

From that moment the mighty Moscow belonged neither 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 1/5 

to the Russians nor to the French, but to that guilty horde 
whose fury was directed by a few officers and soldiers of 
the police. They were organized, and each had his post 
allotted to him, in order that pillage, fire, and devastation 
might commence everywhere at once. 

§ 4. Napoleon's first view of Moscovvr ; the French enter 
the city. 

That very day (September the 14th), Napoleon, being at 
length satisfied that Kutusoff had not thrown himself on 
his right flank, rejoined his advanced guard. He mounted 
his horse a few leagues from Moscow. He marched slowly 
and cautiously, sending scouts before him to examine the 
woods and the ravines, and to ascend all the eminences to 
look out for the enemy's army. A battle was expected, 
and the ground favored the opinion : works also had been 
begun, but they had all been abandoned, and we experi- 
enced not the slightest resistance. 

At length the last eminence only remained to be passed : 
it is contiguous to Moscow, which it commands. It is 
called TJie Hill of Salvation, because on its summit the 
inhabitants, at sight of their holy city, cross and prostrate 
themselves. Our scouts soon gained the top of this hill. 
It was two o'clock : the sun caused this great city to 
glisten with a thousand colors. Struck with astonishment 
at the sight, they paused, exclaiming, " Moscow ! Mos- 
cow ! " Every one quickened his pace ; the troops hur- 
ried on in disorder ; and the whole army, clapping their 
hands, repeated with transport, " Moscow ! Moscow ! " 
just as sailors shout "Land! land!" at the conclusion of 
a long and toilsome voyage. 

At the sight of this gilded city, of this splendid capital. 



176 NAPOLEON'S 

uniting Europe and Asia, of this magnificent emporium 
of tlie luxury and arts of the two fairest divisions of the 
globe, we stood still, in proud contemplation. What a 
glorious day had now arrived ! It would furnish the 
grandest, the most brilliant recollection of our whole lives. 
We felt at this moment that all our actions would engage 
the attention of the astonished world, and that every 
movement we made, however trivial, would be recorded 
by history. 

At that moment dangers and sufferings were all for- 
gotten : was it possible to purchase too dearly the proud 
felicity of being able to say during the rest of life, " I 
belonged to the army of Moscow ! " 

Napoleon himself hastened up. He paused in trans- 
port : an exclamation of delight escaped his lips. Ever 
since the great battle, the discontented marshals had 
shunned him ; but at the sight of captive Moscow, at the 
intelligence of the arrival of a flag of truce, struck with 
so important a result, and intoxicated with all the enthusi- 
asm of glory, they forgot their grievances. They pressed 
around the emperor, paying homage to his good fortune, 
and already tempted to attribute to the foresight of his 
genius the little pains he had taken on the 7th to com- 
plete his victory. 

But in Napoleon, first emotions were of short duration. 
He had too much to think of to indulge his sensations for 
any length of time. His first exclamation was, " There at 
last is that famous city ! " and the second, " It was high 
time!" 

His eyes fixed on this capital, already expressed nothing 
but impatience : in it he beheld in imagination the whole 
Russian empire. Its walls enclosed all his hopes, peace, 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 1/7 

the expenses of the war, immortal glory : his eager looks, 
therefore, intently watched all its outlets. When would 
its gates at length open ? When should he see that depu- 
tation come forth, which would place its wealth, its popu- 
lation, its senate, and the principal of the Russian nobility 
at his disposal ? Henceforth that enterprise in which he 
had so rashly engaged, brought to a successful termination 
by dint of boldness, would pass for the result of a deep 
combination ; his imprudence for greatness : henceforth 
his victory at the Moskwa, incomplete as it was, would be 
deemed his greatest achievement. Thus all that might 
have turned to his ruin would begin to decide whether he 
was the greatest man in the world, or the most rash ; in 
short, whether he had raised himself an altar or dug for 
himself a grave. 

Anxiety, however, soon began to take possession of his 
mind. On his left and right he beheld Prince Eugene 
and Poniatowski approaching the hostile city ; Murat, with 
his scouts, had already reached the entrance of the sub- 
urbs, and yet no deputation appeared : an officer sent by 
Miloradovitch ^ merely came to declare that his general 
would set fire to the city if his rear was not allowed time 
to evacuate it. 

Napoleon granted every demand. The troops of the two 
armies were for a short time intermingled. Murat was 
recognized by the Cossacks, who, with the familiarity of 
the wandering tribes, and curious and ardent as the people 
of the south, thronged around him : then by their gestures 
and exclamations they extolled his valor and intoxicated 
him with their admiration. Murat took the watches of 
his officers, and distributed them among these barbarous 
warriors. One of them called him his chief. 

1 Miloradovitch : a Russian general. 



1/8 NAPOLEON'S 

Murat was tempted to believe that among them he 
should find a new Mazeppa/ or that he himself might 
become one : he imagined that he had completely gained 
them over. This momentary armistice, under the actual 
circumstances, sustained the hopes of Napoleon, such need 
had he of self-delusion. He was amused in this way for 
two hours. 

Meanwhile the day was declining, and Moscow con- 
tinued dull, silent, and seemingly inanimate. The anxiety 
of the emperor increased, and the impatience of the sol- 
diers could scarcely be repressed. Some officers ventured 
within the walls of the city. Moscow was deserted ! 

At this intelligence, which he angrily refused to credit, 
Napoleon ascended the Hill of Salvation, and approached 
the Moskwa and the Dorogomilow gate.^ He paused once 
more, but in vain, at the entrance of that barrier. Murat 
pressed him to permit his soldiers to occupy the city. 
"Well!" he replied, "let them enter, then, since they 
wish it!" He recommended the strictest discipline: he 
still indulged hopes. " Perhaps these inhabitants," he 
said, "do not even know how to surrender, for here every- 
thing is new ; they to us, and we to them." 

Reports now began rapidly to succeed each other : they 
all agreed. Some Frenchmen, residents of Moscow, ven- 
tured to quit the hiding-places which for some days 
had concealed them from the fury of the populace, and 

1 Mazeppa : a Pole, who having been detected in a crime was bound to 
the back of a wild horse and carried by the animal to the country of the 
Cossacks. There he became head of the Cossack forces, and when Peter 
the Great attempted to seize that country, Mazeppa formed an alliance with 
Charles XII. of Sweden for the independence of the Cossacks. 

- Dorogomilow : the name of a quarter of the city. 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 179" 

confirmed the fatal tidings. The emperor called Daru.^ 
" Moscow deserted ! " he exclaimed : " what an improbable 
story ! We must know the truth of it. Go and bring 
me the boyars."^ He imagined that those men, stiff with 
pride or paralyzed by terror, remained motionless in their 
houses; and he, who had hitherto been always met by 
the submission of the vanquished, would encourage their 
confidence and anticipate their prayers. 

How, indeed, was it possible for him to persuade him- 
self that so many magnificent palaces, so many splendid 
temples, so many rich mercantile establishments, had been 
forsaken by their owners, like the paltry hamlets through 
which he had recently passed } Daru's mission, however, 
was fruitless. Not a Muscovite was to be seen ; not a 
particle of smoke arose from a single chimney ; not the 
slightest noise issued from this vast and populous city : 
its three hundred thousand inhabitants seemed to be 
struck dumb and motionless by enchantment : it was the 
silence of the desert ! 

But such was the incredulity of Napoleon that he was 
not yet convinced, and waited for further information. At 
length an officer, wishing to gratify him, or persuaded 
that whatever he willed must necessarily be accomplished, 
entered the city, seized five or six vagabonds, drove them 
before his horse to the emperor, and presented them to 
him as a deputation. From the first words they uttered, 
however, Napoleon detected the imposture, and perceived 
that they were only poor laborers. 

It was not till then that he ceased to doubt the entire 
evacuation of Moscow, and gave up all the hopes that he 
had built upon it. He shrugged his shoulders, and with 

1 Daru : a distinguished French author and statesman who accompanied 
Napoleon in his Russian campaign. ^ Boyars : nobles, or men of rank. 



I So NAPOLEON'S 

that contemptuous look with which he met everything that 
crossed his wishes, he exclaimed, "Ah! the Russians do 
not know yet the effect which the taking of their capital 
will produce upon them ! " 

It was now an hour since Murat and the long and close 
column of his cavalry had entered Moscow : they pene- 
trated to the centre of that gigantic body, as yet untouched, 
but inanimate. Struck with profound astonishment at 
finding a soltitude so complete, they replied to the still- 
ness of this modern Thebes b}'- a silence equally solemn. 
These warriors listened, with a secret shuddering, to the 
sound of their horses' steps among these deserted palaces. 
They were amazed to hear nothing but the noise they 
themselves made amid such numerous habitations. No one 
thought of stopping or of plundering, either from prudence, 
or because highly civilized nations respect themselves in 
enemies' capitals. 

Meanwhile they were silently observing this mighty 
city, which would have been truly remarkable had they 
met with it in a flourishing and populous country, but 
which was here in these deserts still more astonishing. 
It was like a rich and beautiful oasis. They had at first 
been struck by the sudden view of so many magnificent 
palaces, but they now perceived that they were inter- 
mingled with mean cottages : a circumstance which indi- 
cated the want of gradation among the classes, and that 
luxury had not been generated there, as in other countries, 
by industry, but had preceded it ; whereas, in the natural 
order, it ought to be more or less its proper consequence. 

Amid these reflections, which were favored by the slow- 
ness of our march, the report of firearms was all at once 
heard : the column halted. Its last horses were still cross- 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. l8l 

ing the fields ; its centre was in one of the longest streets 
of the city ; its head had reached the Kremlin. The gates 
of that citadel appeared to be closed ; ferocious cries issued 
from within it ; men and women, of savage and disgusting 
aspect, appeared fully armed upon its walls. In a state of 
drunken fury, they uttered the most horrible imprecations. 
Murat sent them amicable proposals, but to no purpose. 
It was found necessary to employ cannon to break open 
the gate. 

We penetrated, partly without opposition, partly by 
force, among these wretches. One of them rushed close 
to Murat and endeavored to kill one of his officers. It was 
thought sufficient to disarm him ; but he again fell upon 
his victim, threw him to the ground, and attempted to 
suffocate him ; and even after his arms were seized and 
held, he strove to tear him with his teeth. These were 
the only Muscovites who had waited our coming ! and who 
seemed to have been left behind as a savage and frightful 
emblem of the national hatred. 

It was easy to perceive, however, that there was no 
unison in this patriotic fury. Five hundred recruits, who 
had been forgotten in the Kremlin, took no part in this 
scene : at the first summons they dispersed ; and farther 
on we overtook a convoy of provisions, the escort of which 
immediately threw down its arms. Several thousand strag- 
glers and deserters from the enemy voluntarily remained 
in the power of our advance guard. The latter left to the 
corps which followed the task of picking them up ; these, 
again, to others, and so on ; and thus they remained at 
liberty in the midst of us, till the conflagration and pillage 
of the city reminding them of their duty, and rallying in 
them one general feeling of antipathy, they went and 
rejoined Kutusoff. 



1 82 NAPOLEON'S 

Murat, who had been stopped but a few moments by the 
Kremlin, dispersed this despicable crew. Ardent and inde- 
fatigable as in Italy and Egypt, after a march of twenty- 
seven hundred miles, and sixty battles fought to reach 
Moscow, he traversed that proud city without deigning to 
halt in it, and pursuing the Russian rear guard, he boldly 
and without hesitation took the road for Vladimir and 
Asia. 

Several thousand Cossacks, with four pieces of cannon, 
were retreating in that direction : the armistice was at an 
end ; and Murat, tired of this peace of half a day, imme- 
diately ordered it to be broken by a discharge of carbines. 
But our cavalry considered the war as finished ; Moscow 
appeared to them to be the goal of it ; and the advanced 
posts of the two empires seemed unwilling to renew hos- 
tilities. A fresh order arrived, but the same hesitation 
prevailed. At length Murat, incensed at this disobedience, 
gave his commands in person ; and the firing, with which 
he seemed to threaten Asia, but which was not destined 
to cease till we had retreated to the banks of the Seine, 
was renewed. 

§ 5. Napoleon takes up his quarters in the Kremlin ; the city 
discovered to be on fire. 

Napoleon did not enter Moscow till after dark. He 
stopped in one of the first houses of the Dorogomilow 
suburb. There he appointed Marshal Mortier governor 
of that capital. "Above all," he said to him, "no pillage. 
For this you shall be answerable to me with your life. 
Defend Moscow against all, whether friend or foe." 

That was a gloomy night : sinister reports rapidly fol- 
lowed each other. Some Frenchmen, resident in the 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 1 83 

country, and even a Russian officer of police, came to 
give intelligence respecting the conflagration. He related 
all the particulars of the preparations that had been made 
for it. The emperor, alarmed by these accounts, strove in 
vain to compose himself to rest. He called every moment, 
and fatal tidings were repeated to him. Still he persisted 
in his incredulity till about two in the morning, when 
news was brought to him that the fire had actually broken 
out. 

It was at the Exchange, in the centre of the city, in its 
richest quarter. Instantly he issued orders upon orders. 
As soon as it was light, he himself hastened to the 
spot and threatened the Young Guard and Mortier. The 
marshal pointed out to him some houses covered with iron ; 
they were closely shut up, still untouched and uninjured 
without, and yet a black smoke was already issuing from 
them. Napoleon dejectedly entered the Kremlin. 

At the sight of this half-Gothic, half-modern palace of 
the Ruricks and the Romanoffs, of their throne still stand- 
ing, of the cross of the great Ivan, and of the finest part 
of the city, which is overlooked by the Kremlin, and which 
the flames, as yet confined to the bazaar, seemed disposed 
to spare, his former hopes revived. His ambition was 
flattered by this great conquest. "At length, then," he 
exclaimed, " I am in Moscow, in the ancient palace of 
the Czars, in the Kremlin ! " He examined every part of 
it with pride, curiosity, and gratification. 

He required a statement of the resources of the city ; 
and, in this brief moment given to hope, sent proposals 
of peace to the Emperor Alexander. A superior officer 
of the enemy had just been found in the great hospital : 
he was charged with the delivery of this letter. It was by 



1 84 NAPOLEON'S 

the baleful light of the flames of the \)2cl2.2cc that Napoleon 
finished it, and the Russian departed. He was to be the 
bearer of the news of the disaster to his sovereign, whose 
only answer was the conflagration of his capital. 

Daylight favored the efforts of the Duke of Treviso to 
subdue the flames. The incendiaries kept themselves 
concealed. Doubts even were entertained of their exist- 
ence. At length, strict injunctions being issued, order 
restored, and alarm for a moment suspended, each took 
possession of a commodious house or sumptuous palace, 
under the idea of finding comforts that had been dearly 
purchased by long and excessive privations. 

Two officers had taken up their quarters in one of 
the buildings of the Kremlin. The view from thence 
embraced the north and west of the city. About mid- 
night they were awakened by an extraordinary light. They 
looked out and beheld palaces filled with flames, which at 
first merely illuminated, but ere long totally consumed 
these superb and noble structures. They observed that 
the north wind drove these flames directly towards the 
Kremlin, and they became alarmed for the safety of that 
fortress, in which the flower of their army and its com- 
mander reposed. They were apprehensive also for the 
surrounding houses, where our soldiers, attendants, and 
horses, weary and exhausted, were doubtless buried in 
profound sleep. Sparks and burning fragments were al- 
ready flying over the roofs of the Kremlin, when the wind, 
shifting from north to west, blew them in another direction. 

One of these officers, relieved from apprehension re- 
specting his own corps, then composed himself again to 
sleep, exclaiming, " Let others look to it ; 'tis no affair of 
ours " ; for such was the unconcern produced by the multi- 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 1 85 

pHcity of events and misfortunes, such the selfishness 
arising from excessive suffering and fatigue, that they left 
to each only just strength and feeling sufficient for his 
personal service and preservation. 

But it was not long before fresh and more vivid lights 
again awoke them. They beheld other flames rising in 
the direction which the wind had again taken towards the 
Kremlin, and they cursed French imprudence and want of 
discipline, to which they imputed this disaster. Three 
times did the wind thus change from west to north, and 
three times did these hostile fires, as if obstinately bent on 
the destruction of the imperial quarters, appear eager to 
follow its course. 

At this sight a strong suspicion seized their minds. 
Could the Muscovites, aware of our rash and thoughtless 
negligence, have conceived the hope of burning, with Mos- 
cow, our soldiers, heavy with wine, fatigue, and sleep ; or, 
rather, had they dared to imagine that they should involve 
Napoleon in this catastrophe, believing that the loss of 
such a man would be a full equivalent for that of their 
capital ; that it was a result of sufficient importance to 
justify the sacrifice of all Moscow to obtain it; that 
Heaven, perhaps, in order to grant them so signal a 
triumph, had decreed so great a sacrifice } 

Whether this was actually their plan we cannot tell ; 
but nothing less than the emperor's good fortune was 
required to prevent its being realized. In fact, not only 
did the Kremlin contain, unknown to us, a magazine of 
powder, but that very night, the guards, asleep and care- 
lessly posted, suffered a whole park of artillery to enter 
and draw up under the windows of Napoleon. 

It was at this moment that the flames were driven from 



1 86 NAPOLEON'S 

all quarters, with the greatest violence, towards the Krem- 
lin ; for the wind, drawn towards this vast conflagration, 
increased every moment in strength. The flower of the 
army and the emperor himself would have been destroyed, 
if but one of the brands that flew over our heads had 
alighted on one of the powder-wagons. Thus upon a sin- 
gle spark out of the multitudes that were for several hours 
floating in the air, depended the fate of the whole army. 

At length the day, a dismal day it was, appeared ; it 
came only to add to the horrors of the scene, and to take 
from it all its brilliancy. Many of the officers sought 
refuge in the halls of the palace. The chiefs, and Mortier 
himself, who had been contending for thirty-six hours 
against the fire, there dropped down from fatigue, and in 
despair. 

They said nothing, and we accused ourselves. Most of 
us supposed that want of discipline on the part of our 
troops and drunkenness had begun the disaster, and that 
the high wind had completed it. We viewed ourselves 
with feelings of disgust. The cry of horror which all 
Europe would not fail to set up, terrified us. Filled with 
consternation at so tremendous a catastrophe, we accosted 
each other with downcast looks. We were roused only 
by our eagerness to obtain intelligence ; and every account 
now began to accuse the Russians alone of the disaster. 

In fact, officers arrived from all quarters, and they all 
agreed on this point. The very first night, that of the 
14th, a fire-balloon had settled on the palace of Prince 
Trubetskoi, and consumed it : this had been the signal. 
Fire was now immediately set to the Exchange ; and Rus- 
sian police soldiers had been seen stirring it up with tarred 
lances. In some places, shells, perfidiously placed in the 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 1 87 

stov^es of the houses, had exploded and wounded the 
mihtary who crowded around them. Retiring to other 
quarters still standing, they sought there for fresh re- 
treats ; but when on the point of entering houses that 
were closely shut up and uninhabited, they had heard faint 
explosions within ; these were succeeded by a light smoke, 
which immediately became thick and black, then reddish, 
lastly fire was seen, and presently the whole edifice was 
involved in flames. 

All had seen hideous-looking men, covered with rags, 
and women resembling furies, wandering among these 
flames. These wretches, intoxicated with wine and with 
the success of their crimes, no longer took any pains to 
conceal themselves : they proceeded in triumph through 
the blazing streets ; they were caught, armed with torches, 
striving to spread the conflagration ; and it was necessary 
to strike down their hands with sabres to oblige them to 
loose their hold. It was said that these banditti had been 
let loose from the prisons by the Russian generals for the 
express purpose of burning the city ; and that, in fact, a 
resolution so extreme could only have been conceived by 
patriotism, and executed by guilt. 

Orders were immediately issued to shoot all the incen- 
diaries on the spot. The army was on foot. The Old 
Guard, which exclusively occupied one part of the Krem- 
lin, was under arms : the baggage, and the horses ready 
loaded, filled the courts ; we were struck dumb with aston- 
ishment, surprise, and disappointment at witnessing the 
destruction of such admirable quarters. Though masters 
of Moscow, we were forced to go and bivouac,^ without pro- 
visions, outside its gates. 

1 Bivouac (biv-wak') : to encamp without tents or shelter. 



1 88 NAPOLEON'S 

While our troops were yet struggling with the conflagra- 
tion, and disputing their prey with the flames, Napoleon, 
whose sleep none had dared to disturb during the night, 
was awakened by the twofold light of day and of the 
burning city. His first feeling was that of irritation, and 
he would have stayed the devouring element by the breath 
of his command ; but he soon paused, and yielded to 
impossibility. Surprised that when he had struck at the 
heart of an empire he should find there any other senti- 
ment than that of abject submission, he felt himself van- 
quished, and surpassed in heroic determination. 

This conquest, for which he had sacrificed everything, 
was like a phantom which he had eagerly pursued, and, at 
the moment when he imagined he had grasped it, he saw 
it vanish from him in a mingled mass of smoke and flame. 
He was then seized with extreme agitation : he seemed, 
as it were, consumed by the fires which were around him. 
He rose every moment from his seat, paced to and fro, 
and again sat abruptly down. He traversed his apart- 
ments with hurried steps : his sudden and vehement ges- 
tures betrayed a painful uneasiness ; he quitted, resumed, 
and again as suddenly abandoned an urgent occupation, 
to hasten to the windows and watch the progress of the 
flames. Short and incoherent exclamations burst from his 
laboring bosom ! " What a tremendous spectacle ! It is 
their own work ! So many palaces ! What extraordinary 
resolution ! What men ! These are indeed Scythians ! " ^ 

Between the fire and his quarters there was an exten- 
sive vacant space, then the Moskwa and its two quays ; 

^ Scythians : a race of fierce barbarians, formerly inhabiting the country 
north and east of the Black Sea. Napoleon intimates that these men are 
their descendants. 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 1 89 

and yet the panes of the windows against which he leaned 
felt already burning to the touch, and the constant exer- 
tions of sweepers, placed on the iron roofs of the palace, 
were not sufficient to keep them clear of the numerous 
flakes of fire which were continually lighting upon them. 

At this moment a rumor was spread that the Kremlin 
had been mined ; and the fact, it was said, was confirmed 
later by the declarations of the Russians, and by written 
documents. Some of his attendants were beside them- 
selves with fear, while the military awaited unmoved what 
the orders of the emperor and fate should decree ; but he 
replied to their alarm only with a smile of incredulity. 

Still, he continued to walk about in the utmost agitation: 
he stopped at every window, to gaze on the terrible, the 
victorious element that was furiously consuming his bril- 
liant conquest ; seizing on all the bridges, on all the 
avenues to his fortress, enclosing, and, as it were, besieging 
him in it ; spreading every moment wider and wider ; con- 
stantly reducing him within narrower limits, and confining 
him at length to the site of the Kremlin alone. 

We breathed already nothing but smoke and ashes : 
night approached, and was about to add darkness to our 
other dangers ; while the equinoctial gales, as if in alliance 
with the Russians, increased in violence. Then Murat and 
Prince Eugene hastened to the emperor's quarters : in 
company with the Prince of Neufchatel they made their 
way to him, and urged him by their entreaties, and on 
their knees, to remove from this scene of desolation. All 
was in vain. 

Master, after so many sacrifices, of the palace of the 
Czars, he was bent on not yielding that conquest even to 
the conflagration, when all at once the shout of " the 



190 NAPOLEON'S 

Kremlin is on fire ! " passed from mouth to mouth, and 
roused us from the contemplative stupor into which we 
had been plunged. The emperor went out to ascertain the 
danger. Twice had the fire communicated to the building 
in which he was and twice had it been extinguished ; but 
the tower of the arsenal was still burning. A soldier of 
the police had been found in it. He was brought in, and 
Napoleon caused him to be interrogated in his presence. 
This man was the incendiary; he had executed his commis- 
sion at the signal given by his chief. It was now evident 
that everything was devoted to destruction, the ancient 
and sacred Kremlin not excepted. 

The gestures of the emperor bespoke disdain and vexa- 
tion : the wretch was hurried into the first court, and there 
the enraged soldiers despatched him with their bayonets. 

§ 6. The fire compels Napoleon to leave the city. 

This occurrence decided Napoleon. He hastily de- 
scended the northern staircase, famous for the massacre 
of the Strelitzes,^ and requested to be conducted out of 
the city, to the distance of a league on the road to St. 
Petersburg, towards the imperial palace of Petrowski. 

But we were besieged by an ocean of fire, which blocked 
up all the gates of the citadel, and frustrated our first 
attempts to escape. After some search, we discovered a 
postern-gate^ leading between the rocks to the Moskwa. 
It was by this narrow pass that Napoleon, his of^cers and 
guard, made their way from the Kremlin. But what had 
they gained by this movement } They had approached 

^ Strelitzes : a body of military guards that revolted under Peter the Great. 
2 Postern-gate : a small rear or side gate. 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. I9I 

nearer to the fire, and could neither retreat nor remain 
where they were ; and how were they to advance ? how 
force a passage through the billows of this sea of flame ? 
Those who had traversed the city, stunned by the tempest 
and blinded by the ashes, could no longer find their way, 
since the streets themselves were not distinguishable amid 
smoke and ruins. 

There was no time to be lost. The roaring of the flames 
around us became every moment more terrific. A single 
narrow winding street, completely enveloped in fire on 
either side, appeared rather the entrance than the outlet 
of this hell. The emperor, however, on foot, and without 
hesitation, rushed into this frightful passage. He ad- 
vanced amid the crackling of the flames, the crash of 
floors, and the fall of burning timbers, and of fragments 
of red-hot iron roofs which tumbled around him. These 
ruins impeded his progress. The flames, while with im- 
petuous roar they consumed the edifices between which 
we were proceeding, spreading beyond the walls, were 
blown out by the wind, and formed an arch over our heads. 
We walked on a ground of fire, beneath a fiery canopy and 
between two walls of fire. The intense heat burned our 
eyes, which we were nevertheless obliged to keep open and 
fixed on the danger. A consuming atmosphere parched 
our throats, and rendered our respiration short and diffi- 
cult ; and we were already almost suffocated by the smoke. 
Our hands were burned, either in endeavoring to protect 
our faces from the insupportable heat, or in brushing off 
the sparks which every moment fell upon our garments. 
In this inexpressible distress, and when a rapid advance 
seemed to be our only means of safety, our guide stopped 
in uncertainty and agitation. Here probably would have 



192 NAPOLEON'S 

terminated our adventurous career, had not some pillagers 
of the first corps recognized the emperor amid the whirling 
flames : they ran up and guided him towards the smoking 
ruins of a quarter which had been reduced to ashes in the 
morning. 

It was there that we met the Prince of Echmiihl. This 
marshal, who had been wounded at the Moskwa, had de- 
sired to be carried back among the flames to rescue Napo- 
leon, or to perish with him. He threw himself into his 
arms with transport; the emperor received him kindly, but 
with that composure which in danger he never lost for a 
moment. 

To escape from this vast region of desolation, it was 
farther necessary to pass a long convoy of powder which 
was defiling amid the fire. This was not the least of his 
dangers, but it was the last, and by nightfall he arrived at 
Petrowski. 

The next morning, the 17th of September, Napoleon 
cast his first look towards Moscow, hoping to see that the 
conflagration had subsided. But he beheld it again raging 
with the utmost violence : the city appeared like one vast 
column of fire, rising in whirling eddies to the sky, which 
it deeply colored. Absorbed by this melancholy contem- 
plation, he maintained a long and gloomy silence, which he 
broke only by the exclamation, "This forebodes to us great 
misfortunes ! " 

The effort which he had made to reach Moscow had 
expended all his means of warfare. Moscow had been the 
limit of his projects, the aim of all his hopes, and Moscow 
was no more ! What was now to be done ? Here this 
decisive genius was forced to hesitate. He who in 1805 
had ordered the sudden and total abandonment of the 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 1 93 

expedition prepared at an immense expense, for the inva- 
sion of England ; and determined at Boulogne on the sur- 
prise and annihilation of the Austrian army, in short, on 
all the operations of the eampaign between Ulm and 
Munich exactly as they were executed ; this same man, 
who in the following year dictated at Paris with like in- 
fallibility all the movements of his army as far as Berlin, 
the day of his entrance into that capital, and the appoint- 
ment of the governor whom he destined for it ; he it was 
who, astonished in his turn, was now in perplexity what 
course to pursue. Never had he communicated his most 
daring projects to the most confidential of his ministers 
but in order for their execution ; he was now, however, 
constrained to consult and put to the proof those who were 
around him. 

But, in doing this, he still preserved the same show of 
confidence and of determination. He declared that he 
would march for St. Petersburg. This conquest was 
already marked out on his maps, hitherto so prophetic : 
orders were even issued to the different corps to hold 
themselves in readiness. But this was all only a feint : it 
was but a better face that he strove to assume, or an ex- 
pedient for diverting his grief at the loss of Moscow ; so 
that Berthier, and more especially Bessi^res, soon con- 
vinced him that he had neither time, provisions, roads, nor 
a single requisite for so distant an expedition. 

At this moment he was apprised that Kutusoff, after 
having fled towards the east, had suddenly turned to the 
south, and thrown himself between Moscow and Kaluga. 
This was an additional circumstance against the expedi- 
tion to St. Petersburg. There was a threefold reason for 
marching upon the beaten army, and endeavoring to extin- 



194 NAPOLEON'S 

guish it : to secure his right flank and his hne of operation ; 
to possess himself of Kaluga and of Tula, the one the gran- 
ary, the other the arsenal of Russia ; and, lastly, to open 
safe, short, new, and untouched retreat to Smolensk and 
Lithuania.! 

Some one proposed to return upon Wittgenstein and 
Witepsk.2 Napoleon, however, remained undecided be- 
tween these different plans. That for the conquest of St. 
Petersburg alone flattered him : the others appeared but 
as ways of retreat, as acknowledgments of error ; and 
whether from pride, or policy which would not admit itself 
to be in the wrong, he rejected them. 

Besides, where was he to halt in case of a retreat .'' He 
had so fully calculated on concluding a peace at Moscow, 
that he had no winter-quarters provided in Lithuania. 
Kaluga had no temptations for him. Wherefore lay waste 
fresh provinces 1 It would be wiser only to threaten them, 
and thus leave the Russians something to lose, in order to 
induce them to conclude a peace by which they might be 
preserved. Would it be possible to march to another bat- 
tle, to fresh conquests, without exposing a line of operation 
covered with sick, stragglers, wounded, and convoys of all 
sorts .'' Moscow was the general rallying point : how 
could it be changed '^. What other name would have any 
attraction } 

Lastly, and above all, how could he relinquish a hope to 
which he had made so many sacrifices, when he knew that 
his letter to Alexander had just passed the Russian ad- 

1 Lithuania : a province of Russia bordering on the Niemen and hence 
near supplies. 

^ Witepsk : a point passed on the march to Moscow, about midway from 
the Niemen ; here the Russian general, Wittgenstein, appears to have been 
stationed. 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 195 

Vctnced posts ; when eight days would be sufficient for 
receiving an answer, so ardently desired ; when he required 
that time to rally and reorganize his army, to collect the 
relics of Moscow, the conflagration of which had but too 
strongly sanctioned pillage, and to draw his soldiers away 
from chat vast infirmary. 

Meanwhile, scarcely a third of that army and of that 
capital now existed. But himself and the Kremlin were 
still standing : his renown was still entire, and he per- 
suaded himself that those two great names. Napoleon and 
Moscow, combined, would be sufficient to accomplish 
everything. He determined, therefore, to return to the 
Kremlin, which a battalion of his guard had unfortunately 
preserved. 

§ 7. Napoleon returns to the Kremlin ; plunder of the city. 

The camps which he traversed on his way thither pre- 
sented an extraordinary sight. In the fields, in the midst 
of the mud, were large fires, kept up with mahogany furni- 
ture, windows and gilded doors. Around these fires, on 
litters of damp straw, imperfectly sheltered by a few 
boards, were seen the soldiers and their officers, splashed 
all over with mud, and blackened with smoke, seated in 
arm-chairs or reclining on silken couches. At their feet 
were spread, or heaped together. Cashmere shawls, the 
rarest furs of Siberia, the gold stuffs of Persia, and silver 
dishes, off which they had nothing to eat but black dough 
baked in the ashes, and half broiled and bloody horseflesh. 
Strange combination of abundance and want, of riches and 
filth, of luxury and wretchedness ! 

Between the camp and the city were met troops of sol- 
diers dragging along their booty, or driving before them, 



196 NAPOLEON'S 

like beasts of burden, Muscovites bending under the weight 
of the pillage of their capital : for the fire brought to light 
nearly twenty thousand inhabitants, previously concealed 
in that immense city. Some of these, of both sexes, were 
well dressed : they were tradespeople. They came with 
the wreck of their property, to seek refuge at our fires. 
They lived pell-mell with our soldiers, protected by some, 
and tolerated, or, rather, scarcely remarked by others. 

About ten thousand of the enemy's troops were in the 
same predicament. For several days they wandered about 
among us, free, and some of them even still armed. Our 
soldiers met these vanquished Russians without the slight- 
est animosity, and without thinking of making them pris- 
oners ; either that they considered the war at an end, or 
from thoughtlessness or pity, or because, when not in battle, 
the French delight in having no enemies. They suffered 
them to share their fires ; nay, more, they allowed them to 
pillage in their company. But when some degree of order 
was restored, or, rather, when the officers had organized 
this marauding as a regular system of forage, the great 
number of these Russian stragglers attracted notice, and 
orders were given to secure them ; but seven or eight 
thousand had already escaped. It was not long before 
we had to fight them. 

On entering the city the emperor was struck by a sight 
still more extraordinary : a few houses scattered here and 
there among the ruins were all that was left of the mighty 
Moscow. The smell issuing from this vast city, over- 
thrown, burned, and calcined, was horrible. Heaps of 
ashes, and, at intervals, fragments of walls or half-demol- 
ished pillars, were now the only vestiges that marked the 
sites of streets. 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 1 97 

In the suburbs were found a few Russians of both sexes, 
covered with garments scorched and blackened by the 
fire. They flitted hke spectres among the ruins ; some of 
them were scratching up the earth in gardens in quest of 
vegetables, while others were disputing with the crows for 
the relics of the dead animals which their army had left 
behind. Farther on, others again were seen plunging into 
the Moskwa to bring out some of the grain which had been 
thrown into it by command of Rostopchin, and which they 
devoured without preparation, soured and spoiled as it 
was. 

Meanwhile the sight of the booty in the camps, where 
everything was yet wanting, inflamed the soldiers, whom 
a sense of duty or stricter officers had hitherto kept with 
their colors. They murmured. " Why were they to be 
kept back } Why were they to perish by famine and 
want, when everything was within their reach .'' Was it 
right to allow the enemy's fires to destroy what might be 
saved .-* Why was such respect to be paid to the confla- 
gration V They added, that "as the inhabitants of Mos- 
cow had not only abandoned, but even endeavored utterly 
to destroy it, all that they could save would be fairly 
gained ; that the remains of that city, like the arms of the 
concjuered, belonged by right to the victors, as the Mus- 
covites had turned their capital into a vast machine of war 
for the purpose of annihilating us." 

The best principled, and the best disciplined were those 
who argued thus, and it was impossible to reply satisfacto- 
rily to them. Exaggerated scruples, however, at first pre- 
venting the issuing of orders for pillage, it was permitted, 
unrestrained by regulations. Then it was, urged by the 
most imperious wants, that all hurried to share the spoil, 



198 NAPOLEON'S 

soldiers of the highest class, and even officers. Their 
chiefs were obliged to shut their eyes : only such guards 
as were absolutely indispensable remained with the colors 
and the piled arms. 

The emperor saw his whole army dispersed over the 
city. His progress was obstructed by long files of marau- 
ders going in quest of booty or returning with it ; by 
tumultuous assemblages of soldiers grouped around the 
entrances of cellars, or the doors of palaces, shops, and 
churches, which the fire had nearly reached, and which 
they were endeavoring to break into. 

His steps were impeded by the fragments of furniture 
of every kind which had been thrown out of. the windows 
to save them from the flames, or by rich pillage which had 
been abandoned from caprice for other booty, for such is 
the way with soldiers ; they are incessantly beginning their 
fortunes afresh, taking everything indiscriminately, loading 
themselves beyond measure, as if they could carry all that 
they find ; then, after they have gone a few steps, com- 
pelled by fatigue to throw away successively the greatest 
part of their burden. 

The roads were obstructed by these accumulations ; and 
the open places, like the camp, were turned into markets, 
whither every one repaired to exchange superfluities for 
necessaries. There the rarest articles, the value of which 
was not known to their possessors, were sold for the 
merest pittance ; while others of little worth, but more 
showy appearance, were purchased at the most exorbitant 
prices. Gold, from being most portable, was bought at an 
immense loss with silver that the knapsacks were incapa- 
ble of holding. Everywhere soldiers were seen seated on 
bales of merchandise, on heaps of sugar and coffee, amid 



RE TREA T FR OM MO SCO W. 1 99 

wines and the most exquisite liquors, all of which they 
were offering in exchange for a morsel of bread. Many, 
in a state of intoxication aggravated by hunger, had fallen 
near the flames, which, reaching them, put a miserable end 
to their lives. 

The houses and palaces which had escaped the fire 
served as quarters for the officers, who respected whatever 
was found in them. They beheld with pain this vast 
destruction, and the pillage which was its necessary conse- 
quence. Some of our best men were reproached with 
being too greedy in collecting whatever they could rescue 
from the flames ; but their number was so small that they 
were all mentioned by name. In these ardent men war 
was a passion which presupposed the existence of many 
others. It was not covetousness, for they did not hoard ; 
they spent lavishly what they had thus picked up, taking 
in order to give, believing that one hand washed the other, 
and that they paid for everything with the danger they 
encountered in acquiring it. 

It was amid this confusion that Napoleon again entered 
Moscow. He had allowed the pillage, hoping that his 
army, scattered over the ruins, would find much that was 
valuable ; but when he learned that the disorder increased ; 
that the Old Guard ^ itself had yielded to the temptation ; 
that the Russian peasants, who were at length allured 
thither with provisions, for which he caused them to be 
liberally paid, that they might induce others to come, were 
robbed of what they brought to us by our famished sol- 
diers ; when he was informed that the different corps, des- 
titute of everything, were ready to fight each other for the 

^ Old Guard : the emperor's body-guard, composed of a large force of 
veterans. 



200 .YAPOLEO.V'S 

relics of ]\Iosco\v ; that, finall}', all our existing resources 
were wasted by this lawless freebooting, he then issued 
severe orders, and forbade his guard to leave their quar- 
ters. The churches in which our cavalry had sheltered 
themselves, were evacuated, and restored to their religious 
uses.^ The business of plunder was ordered to be taken 
in turn by the different corps, like anv other duty, and 
directions were at length given for securing the Russian 
stragglers. 

But it was too late. These soldiers had fled ; the 
affrighted peasants returned no more ; and great quantities 
of provisions were wasted. The French army have some- 
times fallen into these faults, but on the present occasion 
the fire must plead their excuse ; no time was to be lost in 
anticipating the flames. It is, however, a remarkable fact, 
that at the first command of the emperor perfect order was 
restored. 

Most of our men behaved generouslv. considering the 
small number of inhabitants who remained, and the great 
number of enemies they met with. But if, in the first 
moments of pillage, some excesses were perpetrated, ought 
this to appear surprising in an army exasperated by such 
urgent wants, such severe sufferings, and composed of so 
many different nations } 

Misfortunes having since overwhelmed these warriors, 
reproaches, as in such circumstances is ever the case, have 
been raised against them. Who can be ignorant that simi- 
lar disorders have always been the bad side of great wars, 

1 "Xapoleon also took measures for relieving the unfortunate of all classes. 
He ordered lists to be made of all the citizens whom the conflagration had 
deprived of the means of subsistence, opened houses of refuge for them, and 
supplied them with food." 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 201 

or, SO to speak, the inglorious part of glory; that the 
renown of conquerors casts its shadow like everything else 
in this world ? Does there exist a creature however dimin- 
utive, on every side of which the sun can shine at once ? It 
is a law of nature, therefore, that great bodies shall cast 
great shadows. 

§ 8. Rostopchin sets fire to his country-seat ; anxiety of 
Napoleon at not hearing from the Czar. 

Meanwhile Kutusoff, on leaving Moscow, had drawn 
Murat towards Kolomna, the point where the Moskwa 
intersects the road. Here, under favor of the night, he 
suddenly turned to the south, proceeding by the way of 
Podol, to throw himself between Moscow and Kaluga. 
This night march of the Russians around Moscow, the 
ashes and flames of which were wafted to them by the 
violence of the wind, was gloomy in the extreme. They 
were lighted on their march by the baleful conflagration 
which was consuming the centre of their commerce, the 
sanctuary of their religion, the cradle of their empire ! 
Filled with horror and indignation, they kept a sullen 
silence, which was unbroken save by the dull and monoto- 
nous sound of their footsteps, the roaring of the flames, 
and the howling of the blast. The dismal light was fre- 
quently varied by livid and sudden flashes. The brows of 
these warriors might then be seen contracted by intense 
and unutterable grief, and the fire of their sombre and 
threatening looks answered to these flames, which they 
regarded as our work ; they already betrayed the ferocious 
revenge which was rankling in their hearts, which spread 
throughout the empire, and of which so many Frenchmen 
were the victims. 



202 NAPOLEON'S 

At that solemn moment, Kutusoff, in a firm and impres- 
sive tone, addressed his sovereign, and informed him of 
the loss of his capital. He stated that, " in order to save 
the fertile provinces of the south, and to keep up his com- 
munications with Tormasoff and Tchitchakoff, he had been 
obliged to abandon Moscow, but emptied of its inhabitants, 
who were its life; and," said he, "as the people are the 
soul of every country, so where the Russian people are, 
there will be Moscow and the empire of Russia." 

It is said that on receiving this intelligence Alexander 
was thunderstruck. Napoleon, it was known, built hopes 
on the weakness of his rival, and the Russians them- 
selves dreaded the effects of that weakness. But the Czar 
disappointed as well these hopes as fears. In his addresses 
to his subjects he exhibited himself no less great than 
his misfortune: "No pusillanimous dejection!" he ex- 
claimed ; " let us vow redoubled courage and perseverance ! 
The enemy is in deserted Moscow as in a tomb, without 
means of domination or even of existence. He entered 
Russia with three hundred thousand men of all countries, 
without union or any national or religious bond : he has 
already lost half of them by the sword, by famine, and by 
desertion : he has but the wreck of this army in Moscow : 
he is in the heart of Russia, and not a single Russian is at 
his feet. 

" Meanwhile our forces are increasing and closing around 
him. He is in the midst of a mighty population, encom- 
passed by armies which are waiting his movements and 
keeping him in check. To escape from famine, he will 
soon be obliged to direct his flight through the ranks of 
our brave soldiers. Shall we then recede, when all Europe 
is looking on and encouraging us .'' Let us, on the con- 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 203 

trary, set it an example, and kiss the hand which has thus 
led us forth to be the first among the nations to vindicate 
the cause of independence and virtue." He concluded 
with an invocation to the Almighty. 

This circuitous march of Kutusoff, whether made from 
indecision or as a stratagem, was much in his favor. 
Murat lost all traces of him for three days. The Russian 
general employed all this interval in studying the ground 
and in intrenching himself. His advanced guard had 
nearly reached Woronowo, one of the finest domains be- 
longing to Count Rostopchin, when that nobleman pro- 
ceeded on before it. The Russians supposed that he had 
gone to take a last look at this splendid mansion, when all 
at once it was wrapped from their sight by clouds of smoke. 

They hurried on to extinguish the fire, but Rostopchin 
himself repelled their aid. They beheld him, amid the 
flames which he was encouraging, smiling at the demoli- 
tion of this magnificent edifice, and then with a firm hand 
penning these words, which the French, shuddering with 
astonishment, afterwards read on the iron gate of a church 
which was left standing : " For eight years I have been 
embellishing this country-seat, where I have lived happily 
in the bosom of my family. The inhabitants of this 
estate, to the number of 1720, leave it on your approach, 
while I have set fire to my house, that it may not be pol- 
luted by your presence. Frenchmen, I have relinquished 
to you my two houses at Moscow, with their furniture, 
worth half a million of rubles. Here you will find nothing 
but ashes ! " 

It was near this place that Murat came up with Kutu- 
soff. On the 29th of September there was a smart 
engagement of cavalry and another on the 4th of Octo- 



204 NAPOLEON'S 

ber. Murat fought till nightfall, and repulsed the Russian 
force. 

Meanwhile, the conflagration at Moscow, which com- 
menced in the night of the 14th of September, suspended 
through our exertions during the day of the 15th, revived 
the following night, and, raging with the utmost violence 
on the 1 6th, 17th, and i8th, abated on the 19th : it ceased 
altogether on the 20th, and on that day Napoleon returned 
to the Kremlin. To this point he attracted the looks of 
all Europe. There he awaited his convoys, his re-enforce- 
ments, and the stragglers of his army ; certain that his 
soldiers would all be rallied by his victory, by the allure- 
ments of a rich booty, by the imposing sight of captive 
Moscow, and, above all, by his own glory, which, from the 
summit of this immense pile of ruins, still shone attractive 
like a beacon upon a rock. 

Twice, however, on the 22d and 28th of September, 
letters from Murat had wellnigh drawn him from this 
fatal abode. They announced a battle ; and twice the 
orders for departure were written, and then burned. It 
seemed as though the war was finished for the emperor, 
and that he was only waiting for an answer from St. 
Petersburg. He nourished his hopes with the recollec- 
tions of Tilsit and Erfurt.^ Was it possible that at Mos- 
cow he should have less ascendancy over Alexander .'* 
Then, as is common with men who have long been the 
favorites of fortune, what he ardently wished he confi- 
dently expected. 

His genius possessed, besides, the extraordinary faculty 
of being able to throw aside the most important occupation 

1 Tilsit and Erfurt : at these places Napoleon had negotiated treaties, 
greatly in favor of the French, with the Czar of Russia. 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 205 

whenever he pleased, either for the sake of variety or for 
rest ; for in him the power of will surpassed that of imagi- 
nation. In this respect he reigned over himself no less 
despotically than he did over others. 

Thus Paris diverted his attention from Petersburg. His 
accumulating affairs and the couriers, which in the first 
days succeeded each other without intermission, served to 
engage him. But the rapidity with which he transacted 
business soon left him again with nothing to do. His ex- 
presses,^ which at first came from France in a fortnight, 
now ceased to arrive. A few military posts, placed in 
four towns reduced to ashes, and in wooden houses rudely 
palisaded, were wholly insufficient to guard a road of nearly 
two hundred and eighty miles ; for we had been able to 
fix only these few steps, and at so great a distance apart, 
on so long a ladder. This too lengthened line of opera- 
tion was consequently broken at every point where it was 
touched by the enemy : a few peasants, or a handful of 
Cossacks, were quite sufificient for the purpose. 

Still no answer was received from Alexander. The un- 
easiness of Napoleon increased, while his means of divert- 
ing his attention from it diminished. The activity of his 
genius, accustomed to the government of all Europe, had 
nothing with which to occupy itself but the management 
of one hundred thousand men ; and then, the organization 
of his army was so perfect, that this was scarcely any 
occupation to him. Here everything was fixed : he held 
all the wires in his hand : he was surrounded by ministers 
who could tell him immediately, at any hour of the day, 
the position of each man in the morning or at night, ' 
whether with his colors, in the hospital, on leave of ab- 

1 Expresses : messengers. 



206 NAPOLEON'S 

sence, or wherever else he might be, and that, from Mos- 
cow to Paris : to such a degree of perfection had the 
science of a concentrated administration been then brought, 
so experienced and well chosen were the officers, and so 
much was required by their commander. 

But eleven days had already elapsed : still Alexander was 
silent, and still did Napoleon hope to overcome his rival 
by obstinacy : thus losing the time which he ought to have 
gained, and which might have been made so serviceable 
against attack. 

From this period all his actions indicated to the Russians, 
still more strongly than at Witepsk, that their mighty foe 
was resolved to fix himself in the heart of their empire. 
Moscow, though in ashes, received a governor and mu- 
nicipal officers : orders also were issued to provision it for 
the winter : and a theatre was formed amid its ruins. The 
first actors of Paris, it is said, were sent for. An Italian 
singer strove to reproduce in the Kremlin the evening 
entertainments of the Tuileries. By such means Napoleon 
expected to dupe a government which the habit of reign- 
ing over ignorance and error had rendered an adept in all 
these delusions. 

He was himself sensible of the inadequacy of these 
means, and yet September was past, and October had 
begun. Alexander had not deigned to reply ! it was an 
affront ! he was exasperated. On the 3d of October, after 
a night of restlessness and irritation, he summoned his 
marshals. " Come in," said he, as soon as he perceived 
them ; " hear the new plan which I have conceived : Prince 
Eugene, read it." They listened. "We must burn the 
remains of Moscow, and march by Twer to St. Peters- 
burg, where we shall be joined by Macdonald. Murat 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 20/ 

and Davoust will form the rear guard." The emperor, all 
animation, fixed his sparkling eyes on his generals, whose 
rigid and silent countenances expressed nothing but aston- 
ishment. 

Then exalting himself in order to rouse them, "What ! " 
said he, "and -axq yoti not inflamed by this idea .-^ Was 
there ever so great a military achievement .-' Henceforth 
this conquest is the only one that is worthy of us ! With 
what glory shall we be covered, and what will the whole 
world say when it learns that in three months we have 
conquered the two great capitals of the North ! " 

But Davoust, as well as Daru, objected to him "the sea- 
son, the want of supplies, a sterile desert, and artificial 
road, that from Twer to St. Petersburg runs for a hun- 
dred leagues through morasses, and which three hundred 
peasants might in a single day render impassable. Why 
keep proceeding north .'' Why go to meet, to provoke, and 
to defy the winter .-* it was already too near ; and what was 
to become of the six thousand wounded still in Moscow } 
Were they then to be left to the mercy of Kutusoff.!* 
That general would not fail to follow close at our heels. 
We should have at once to attack and to defend, thus 
marching to a conquest as though we were in flight." 

These officers have declared that they themselves then 
proposed various plans : a useless trouble with a prince 
whose genius outstripped all other imaginations, and whom 
their objections would not have stopped, had he been fully 
determined to march on St. Petersburg. But that idea 
was in him only a sally of anger, an inspiration of despair, 
on finding himself obliged in the face of Europe to give 
way, to relinquish his conquest and to fall back. 

It was more especially a threat to frighten his officers 



208 NAPOLEON'S 

as well as the enemy, and to bring about and to promote 
a negotiation which Caulaincourt was to open. That offi- 
cer had made himself agreeable to Alexander ; he was the 
only one of the grandees of Napoleon's court who had 
acquired any influence over his rival ; but for some months 
past Napoleon had kept him at a distance, because he had 
not been able to induce him to a.pprove of his expedition. 

It was nevertheless to this very man that he was now 
obliged to have recourse, and to disclose his anxiety. He 
sent for him ; but, when alone with him, he hesitated. 
Taking him by the arm, he walked to and fro for a long 
time in great agitation, his pride preventing him from 
breaking so painful a silence : at length he yielded, but in 
a threatening manner. Caulaincourt, who had formerly 
been minister to Russia, was to persuade the enemy to 
solicit peace of him, as if it were by his condescension 
that it was to be granted. 

After a few words, which were scarcely articulate, he 
said that " he was about to march to St. Petersburg. He 
knew that the destruction of that city would give pain to 
General Caulaincourt, Russia would then rise against the 
Emperor Alexander ; there would at once be a conspiracy 
against that monarch ; he would be assassinated, which 
would be a most unfortunate circumstance. He esteemed 
that prince, and should regret him, both for his own sake 
and that of France. His disposition," he added, "was 
suited to our interests : no prince could replace him with 
so much advantage to us. He had thought, therefore, 
of sending General Caulaincourt to him, to prevent such 
a catastrophe." 

General Caulaincourt, however, more obstinate than dis- 
posed to flattery, did not alter his tone. He maintained 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOiV. 209 

that "these overtures would be useless; that, unless the 
Russian territory was entirely evacuated, Alexander would 
listen to no proposals ; that Russia was sensible of all her 
advantage at this season of the year; nay, more, that this 
step would be detrimental to himself, inasmuch as it would 
demonstrate the need which he had of peace, and betray 
all the embarrassment of our situation." 

He added, "that the more particular he was in the selec- 
tion of his negotiator, the more clearly would he show his 
anxiety ; that, therefore, he (Caulaincourt) would be more 
likely to fail than any other, especially as he would go 
with the certainty of failing." The emperor abruptly ter- 
minated the conversation by these words : " Well, then, I 
will send Lauriston." 

The latter asserts that he added fresh objections to the 
preceding, and that, being urged by the emperor, he rec- 
ommended to him to begin his retreat that very day, by 
way of Kaluga. Napoleon, irritated at this, sharply replied, 
" that he liked simple plans, less circuitous routes, high 
roads, the road by which he had comc, yet he would not 
retrace it but with peace." Then showing to him, as he 
had done to General Caulaincourt, the letter which he had 
written to Alexander, he ordered him to go and obtain of 
Kutusoff a safe conduct to St. Petersburg. The last words 
of the emperor to Lauriston were, " I want peace, I must 
have peace, I absolutely will have peace only save my 
honor." 

The general set out, and reached the advanced posts of 
the Russians on the 5th of October. Hostilities were 
instantly suspended, and an interview granted, at which 
Wolkonsky, aid-de-camp to Alexander, and Beningsen were 
present, without Kutusoff. Wilson asserts that the Rus- 



2IO NAPOLEON'S 

sian generals and officers, suspicious of their commander, 
and accusing him of weakness, had raised a cry of treason, 
and that the latter had not dared to leave his camp. 

As Lauriston's instructions purported that he was to 
address himself to no one but Kutusoff, he peremptorily 
rejected any intermediate communication ; and seizing, as 
he said, this occasion for breaking off a negotiation which 
he disapproved, he retired, in spite of all the solicitations 
of Wolkonsky, with the intention of returning to Moscow. 
Had he carried this into effect, no doubt Napoleon, exas- 
perated, would have fallen upon Kutusoff, overthrown him 
and destroyed his army, as yet very incomplete, and forced 
him into a peace. In case of less decisive success, he 
would at least have been able to retire without loss upon 
his reinforcements. 

Unfortunately, Beningsen desired an interview with Mu- 
rat. Lauriston waited. The chief of the Russian staff, 
an abler negotiator than soldier, strove to charm this mon- 
arch of yesterday by demonstrations of respect ; to seduce 
him by praises ; to deceive him with smooth words, breath- 
ing nothing but a weariness of war and the hope of peace ; 
and Murat, tired of battles, anxious respecting their result, 
and, as it is said, regretting his throne, now that he had 
no hope of a better, suffered himself to be charmed, se- 
duced, and deceived. 

It was soon demonstrated that the chief point in which 
they were all agreed was to deceive Murat and the em- 
peror ; and in this they succeeded. These details trans- 
ported Napoleon with joy. Credulous from hope, perhaps 
from despair, he was for some moments dazzled by these 
appearances : eager to escape from the inward feeling 
which oppressed him, he seemed desirous to deaden it by 



RE TREA T FR OM MO SCO W. 211 

resigning himself to an expansive joy. He therefore sum- 
moned all his generals, and triumphantly announced to 
them a speedy peace. "They had but to wait another fort- 
night. None but himself was acquainted with the Russian 
character. On the receipt of his letter St. Petersburg 
would be illuminated." But the armistice^ proposed by 
Kutusoff was so unsatisfactory to him, that he ordered 
Murat to break it instantly ; it nevertheless continued to 
be observed, the cause of which is not known. 

This armistice was a very singular one. If either party 
wished to break it, three hours' notice was to be sufficient. 
It was confined to the fronts of the two camps, but did not 
extend to their flanks : such, at least, was the interpreta- 
tion put upon it by the Russians. Thus, we could not 
bring up a convoy, or send out a foraging party, without 
fighting ; so that the war continued everywhere excepting 
where it could be favorable to us. 

As for the emperor, who was not so easily deceived, he 
had but a few moments of factitious joy. He soon com- 
plained "that an annoying warfare of partisans^ hovered 
around him ; that, notwithstanding all these pacific demon- 
strations, bodies of Cossacks were prowling on his flanks 
and in his rear. Had not one hundred and fifty dragoons 
of his Old Guard been surprised and routed by a number of 
these barbarians } And this two days after the armistice, 
on the road to Mojaisk, on his line of operation, that by 
which the army communicated with its magazines, its re- 
inforcements, and he himself with Europe.''" 

Our soldiers, and especially our cavalry, were obliged 
every morning to go to a great distance in quest of pro- 

1 Armistice : a temporary suspension of hostilities. 

- Partisans : soldiers detached to intercept convoys of provisions and the 
like. 



212 NAPOLEON'S 

visions for the evening and for the next day ; and as the 
environs of Moscow and Winkowo became gradually more 
and more drained, they were daily compelled to extend 
their excursions. Both men and horses returned worn out 
with fatigue, that is to say, such of them as returned at 
all ; for we had to fight for every bushel of rye and for 
every truss of forage. It was a series of incessant sur- 
prises and skirmishes, and of continual losses. The peas- 
antry took part in it. They punished with death such of 
their number as the prospect of gain had allured to our 
camp with provisions. Others set fire to their own villages 
to drive our foragers out of them, and to give them up to 
the Cossacks, whom they had previously summoned, and 
who kept us there in a state of siege. 

Thus the war was everywhere : in our front, on our 
flanks, and in our rear. Our army was constantly weaken- 
ing, and the enemy becoming daily more enterprising. 
This conquest seemed destined to fare like many others, 
which are won in the mass, and lost piece-meal. 

Murat himself at length grew uneasy. In these daily 
skirmishes he had seen half the remnant of his cavalry 
melted away. At the advanced posts, the Russian officers, 
on meeting with ours, either from weariness, vanity, or 
military frankness carried to indiscretion, exaggerated the 
disasters which threatened us. Showing us those wild- 
looking horses, scarcely at all broken in, whose long manes 
swept the dust of the plain, they said, " Did not this tell 
us that a numerous cavalry was joining them from all quar- 
ters, while ours was gradually perishing .? Did not the 
continual discharges of firearms within their line apprise 
us that a multitude of recruits were then training under 
favor of the armistice .'' " 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 213 

And, in fact, notwithstanding the long journeys which 
they had to make, all these recruits joined the army. 
There was no occasion to defer calling them together, as 
in other years, till deep snows, obstructing all the roads 
excepting the high road, rendered their desertion impos- 
sible. Not one failed to obey the national appeal ; all 
Russia rose: mothers, it was said, wept for joy on learn- 
ing that their sons had been selected for soldiers : they 
hastened to acquaint them with the glorious intelligence, 
and even accompanied them to see them marked with the 
sign of the Crusaders, to hear them cry, ' Tis the will of 
God! 

The Russian ofificers added " that they were particularly 
astonished at our security on the approach of their fright- " 
ful winter, which was their natural and most formidable 
ally, and which they expected every moment : they pitied 
us and urged us to fly. In a fortnight," said they, "your 
nails will drop off, and your muskets will fall from your 
benumbed and half-dead fingers." 

The language of some of the Cossack chiefs was also 
remarkable. They asked our ofificers " if they had not, in ^ 
their own country, corn enough, air enough, and graves 
enough : in short, room enough to live and die } Why, 
then, did they come so far from home to throw away their 
lives, and to fatten a foreign soil with their blood.'' " They 
added that " this was a robbery of their native land, which 
while living it is our duty to cultivate, to defend, and to 
embellish ; and to which, after our death, we owe our 
bodies, which we received from it, which it has fed, and 
which, in their turn, ought to feed it." 

The emperor was not ignorant of these warnings, but 
he would not suffer his resolution to be shaken by them. 



214 NAPOLEOAT'S 

The uneasiness which had again seized him betrayed itself 
in angry orders. It was then that he caused the churches 
of the Kremlin to be stripped of everything that could 
serve for a trophy to the Grand Army. These objects, 
devoted to destruction by the Russians themselves, be- 
longed, he said, to the conquerors, by the double right 
conferred by victory and by the conflagration. 

It required long efforts to remove the gigantic cross 
from the steeple of Ivan the Great, to the possession of 
which the Russians attached the salvation of their empire. 
The emperor determined that it should adorn the dome of 
the Invalides^ at Paris. During the work it was remarked 
that a great number of ravens kept flying round this cross, 
and that Napoleon, weary of their hoarse croaking, ex- 
claimed that *'it seemed as if these flocks of ill-omened 
birds meant to defend it." We cannot pretend to tell all 
that he thought in this critical situation, but it is well 
known that he was accessible to every kind of presenti- 
ment. 

His nights, in particular, became irksome to him. He 
passed part of them with Count Daru. It was then only 
that he admitted the danger of his situation. "From 
Wilna to Moscow, what submission, what point of support, 
of rest, or of retreat, marked his power .'' It was a vast, 
bare, and desert field of battle, in which his diminished 
army was imperceptible, insulated, and, as it were, lost in 
the horrors of an immense void. In this country of for- 
eign manners and religion he had not conquered a single 
individual : he was, in fact, master only of the ground on 
which he stood. That which he had just quitted and left 

^ Invalides : one of the great public buildings at Paris; a soldiers' home 
and hospital. Napoleon is buried here. 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 21 5 

behind him was no more his than that which he had not 
reached. Insufficient for these vast deserts, he was lost, 
as it were, in their immense space." 

He then reviewed the different resolutions of which he 
still had the choice. "People imagined," he said, "that 
he had nothing to do but march, without considering that 
it would take a month to refit his army and to evacuate his 
hospitals ; that if he relinquished his wounded, the Cos- 
sacks would daily be seen triumphing over his sick and his 
stragglers. He would appear to fly. All Europe would 
resound with the report ! Europe, which envied him, 
which was seeking a rival under whom to rally, and would 
imagine that it had found such a rival in Alexander." 

The letter of which Lauriston was the bearer to the 
Czar had been despatched on the 6th of October, and the 
answer to it could scarcely arrive before the 20th : still, in 
spite of so many threatening demonstrations, the pride, 
the policy, and perhaps the health of Napoleon induced 
him to pursue the worst of all courses, that of waiting for 
this answer, and of trusting to time, which was destroying 
him. Daru, as well as his other officers, was astonished to 
find in him no longer that prompt decision, variable and 
rapid as the occurrences which called it forth : they as- 
serted that his genius could no longer accommodate itself 
to circumstances ; and they placed it to the account of his 
natural persistence, which had led to his elevation, and 
which seemed destined to cause his downfall. 

§ 9. Napoleon determines to leave Moscow. 

Napoleon, however, was completely aware of his situa- 
tion. To him everything seemed lost if he receded in the 



2l6 NAPOLEON'S 

face of astonished Europe, and everything saved if he 
could surpass Alexander in determination. He appreci- 
ated but too well the means that were left him to shake 
the constancy of his rival ; he knew that the diminishing 
number of his effective troops, that his situation, the season, 
in short, everything, would become daily more and more 
unfavorable to him ; but he reckoned upon that magic force 
which his renown gave him. Hitherto that had lent to 
him a real and never failing strength : he endeavored, 
therefore, to keep up, by specious arguments, the confi- 
dence of his army, and perhaps, also, the faint hope that 
was still left to himself. 

Moscow, empty of inhabitants, no longer furnished him 
with anything to lay hold of. " It is no doubt a mis- 
fortune," he said, "but this misfortune is not without its 
advantage. Had it been otherwise, he would not have 
been able to keep order in so large a city, to overawe a 
population of three hundred thousand souls, and to sleep 
in the Kremlin but at the hazard of assassination. They 
have left us nothing but ruins, but at least we are quiet 
among them. Millions have no doubt slipped through our 
hands, but how many thousand millions is Russia losing ! 
Her commerce is ruined for a century to come. The 
nation is thrown back fifty years, which of itself is an im- 
portant result ; and when the first moment of enthusiasm 
is passed, this reflection will fill them with consternation." 
The conclusion which he drew was, " that so violent a 
shock would convulse the throne of Alexander, and force 
that prince to sue for peace." 

In reviewing his different corps, their reduced battalions 
now presented so narrow a front that he was but a moment 
in traversing it, and this palpable diminution of their num- 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 21/ 

bers evidently vexed him ; either, therefore, to deceive his 
enemies or his own soldiers, he declared that the practice 
hitherto pursued of ranging the men three deep was wrong, 
and that two were sufficient ; and he ordered his infantry 
in future to be drawn up in two ranks only. 

Nay, more : he even insisted that the inflexibility of the 
regimental returns should give way to this illusion. He 
disputed their results ; and the obstinacy of Count Lobau 
could not overcome his. He was desirous, no doubt, of 
making his aid-de-camp ^ understand what he wished others 
to believe, and that nothing could shake his resolution. 

Meanwhile the attitude of his army seconded his wishes. 
Most of the officers persevered in their confidence. The 
common soldiers, who saw their whole lives in the present, 
and expected but little from the future, were for the most 
part unconcerned about it, and still retained their thought- 
lessness, the most valuable of their qualities. The rewards, 
however, which the emperor bestowed profusely upon them 
in the daily reviews, were received at best with a sedate 
joy, mingled with some degree of dejection. The vacant 
places about to be filled up were yet freshly dyed with 
blood : these favors were menacing. 

On the other hand, when leaving Wilna, many of them 
had thrown away their winter garments, that they might 
load themselves with provisions. Their shoes were worn 
out by the length of the march, and the rest of their 
apparel by the successive actions in which they had been 
engaged ; but, in spite of all, their attitude was still lofty. 
They carefully concealed their wretched plight from the 
notice of the emperor, and appeared before him with their 

^ Aid-de-camp : an officer who carries orders and directs movements for 
a general. 



2l8 NAPOLEON'S 

arms bright and in the best order. In this first court of 
the palace of the Czars, full sixteen hundred miles from 
their resources, and after so many battles and bivouacs, 
they were anxious to appear still clean, alert, and prompt, 
for herein consists the pride of the soldier ; and here they 
piqued themselves upon it the more, on account of the diffi- 
culty, in order to astonish, and because man prides himself 
on whatever requires extraordinary effort. 

The emperor complaisantly affected to know no better, 
catching at everything to keep up his hopes ; when all at 
once the first snows fell. With them fell all the illusions 
with which he had endeavored to surround himself. From 
that moment he thought, of nothing but retreat, without, 
however, pronouncing the word, and yet no positive order 
for it could be obtained from him. He merely said that in 
twenty days the army must be in winter quarters, and he 
urged the departure of his wounded. On this as on other 
occasions, he would not consent to the voluntary relin- 
quishment of anything, however trifling : there was a defi- 
ciency of horses for his artillery, now too numerous for an 
army so reduced ; but it did not signify, and he flew into a 
passion at the proposal to leave part of it behind. " No ; 
the enemy would make a trophy of it ; " and he insisted that 
everything should go along with him. 

In this desert country he gave orders for the purchase 
of 20,000 horses, and he expected forage for two months 
to be provided on a tract where the most distant and dan- 
gerous excursions were not sufficient for the supply of the 
passing day. Some of his officers were astonished to hear 
orders which it was so impossible to execute ; but we have 
already seen that he sometimes issued such orders to 
deceive his enemies, and more frequently to indicate to his 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 219 

own troops the extent of their necessities, and the exer- 
tions they were called on to make in order to supply them. 

His distress manifested itself only in paroxysms of ill- 
humor, and this most frequently in the morning, at his 
levee. There, amid his assembled chiefs, in whose anxious 
looks he imagined he could read disapprobation, he seemed 
desirous to awe them by the severity of his manner, by his 
sharp tone, and his abrupt language. From the paleness 
of his face, however, it was evident that Truth, whose best 
time for obtaining a hearing is in the stillness of night, 
had annoyed him grievously by her presence, and oppressed 
him with her unwelcome light. Sometimes, on these occa- 
sions, his bursting heart would overflow, and pour forth its 
sorrows without any restraint. His agitation was mani- 
fested at such times by movements of extreme impatience ; 
but, so far from lightening his griefs, he only aggravated 
them by those acts of injustice for which he reproached 
himself, and which he was afterwards anxious to repair. 

It was only to Count Daru that he unbosomed himself 
frankly, but without any weakness. He said " he should 
march upon Kutusoff, crush or drive him back, and then 
turn suddenly towards Smolensk." Daru, who had before 
approved this course, replied that " it was now too late ; 
that the Russian army was re -enforced, his own weakened, 
and his victory forgotten ; that, the moment his troops 
turned their faces towards home, they would slip away 
from him by degrees ; that each soldier, laden with booty, 
would try to get the start of the army, for the purpose of 
disposing of it in France." "What, then, is to be done.-*" 
exclaimed the emperor. " Remain here," replied Daru ; 
"make one vast intrenched camp of Moscow, and pass the 
winter in it. He would answer for it that there would be 



220 NAPOLEON'S 

no want of bread and salt : the rest foraging on a large 
scale would supply. Such of the horses as they could not 
procure food for might be salted down. As to lodgings, 
if there were not houses enough, the cellars might make 
up the deficiency. Here we might stay till the return of 
spring, when our re-enforcements and all Lithuania in 
arms would come to relieve, to join us, and to complete 
the conquest." 

After listening to this proposal the emperor was for 
some time silent and thoughtful : he then replied, "This 
is a lion's counsel ! But what would Paris say 1 What 
would they do there 1 What have they been doing there 
for the last three weeks that they have not heard from me } 
Who knows what would be the effect of a suspension of 
communication for six months } No : France would not 
accustom itself to my absence, and Prussia and Austria 
would take advantage of it." 

Still Napoleon could not make up his mind either to 
stay or to depart. Though overcome in this struggle of 
pertinacity, he deferred from day to day the avowal of his 
defeat. Amid the threatening storm of men and elements 
which was gathering around him, his ministers and aids- 
de-camp saw him pass whole days in discussing the merits 
of some new verses which he had received, or the regula- 
tions for one of the French theatres at Paris, which he 
took three evenings to finish. As they were acquainted 
with his deep anxiety, they could not but admire the 
strength of his genius, and the facility with which he 
could take off the whole force of his attention from, or fix 
it on, whatever subject he pleased. 

It was merely remarked that he prolonged his meals, 
which had hitherto been so simple and so short. He 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 221 

seemed desirous of stifling thought by repletion. He 
would then pass whole hours half reclined, and as if torpid, 
awaiting with a novel in his hand the catastrophe of his 
terrible history. In contemplating this obstinate and in- 
flexible character thus struggling with impossibility, his 
officers would observe to each other that, having arrived 
at the summit of his glory, he no doubt foresaw that from 
his first retrograde step would date its decline ; that for 
this reason he continued immovable, clinging to, and lin- 
gering a few moments longer on, his proud elevation. 

Kutusoff, meanwhile, was gaining the time which we 
were losing. His letters to Alexander described "his 
army as being in the midst of plenty ; his recruits arriving 
from all quarters, and being rapidly trained ; his wounded 
recovering in the bosom of their families ; the whole of the 
peasantry on foot, some in arms, some on the look-out 
from the tops of steeples or in our camp, while others were 
stealing into our habitations, and even into the Kremlin. 
Rostopchin received a daily report of what was passing at 
Moscow as regularly as before its capture. If they under- 
took to be our guides, it was for the purpose of delivering 
us into his hands. His partisans were every day bringing 
in some hundreds of prisoners. Everything concurred to 
destroy the enemy's army and to strengthen his own ; to 
serve him and to betray us ; in a word, the campaign, which 
was over for us, was but just about to begin for them." 

Kutusoff neglected no advantage. He made his camp 
ring with the news of the victory of Salamanca. " The 
French," said he, "are expelled from Madrid. The hand 
of the Most High presses heavily upon Napoleon. Mos- 
cow will be his prison, his grave, and that of the whole of 
his Grand Army. We shall soon subdue France in Russia ! " 



222 NAPOLEO.Y'S 

It was in such language that the Russian general addressed 
his troops and his emperor ; and still he kept up appear- 
ances with Murat. At once bold and crafty, he contrived 
gradually to prepare a sudden and impetuous warfare, and 
to cover his plans for our destruction with demonstrations 
of kindness and honeyed words. 

But at length, after so many days of illusion, the charm 
was all at once dispelled. A single Cossack dissolved it. 
This barbarian fired at jNIurat, at the moment when that 
prince came as usual to show himself at the advanced 
posts. Highly exasperated, the king immediately declared 
to Miloradovitch that an armistice which had been inces- 
santly violated was now at an end, and that thenceforward 
each party must look only to itself. 

At the same time he apprised the emperor that the 
woody country on his left might favor the enemy's at- 
tempts against his flank and rear ; that his first line, being 
backed against a ravine, might be precipitated into it ; 
that, in short, the position which he then occupied, in 
advance of a defile, was dangerous, and rendered a retro- 
grade movement absolutely necessary. But Napoleon 
would not consent to this step, though he had at first 
pointed out Woronowo as a more secure position. In this 
war, still in his view rather political than military, he 
dreaded above all things the appearance of receding. He 
preferred risking everything rather than acknowledge to 
his enemies the slightest irresolution. 

Amid these preparations, and at the moment when 
Napoleon was reviewing Ney's divisions in the first court 
of the Kremlin, a report was all at once circulated that 
the sound of cannon was heard towards Vinkowo. It was 
some time before any one dared to apprise him of the 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 223 

circumstance ; some from incredulity or uncertainty, and 
dreading the first movement of his impatience ; others 
from weakness, hesitating to provoke a terrible explosion 
or apprehensive of being sent to verify the assertion, and 
exposed to a fatiguing excursion. 

Duroc at length took courage to inform him. The 
emperor was at first agitated ; but, quickly recovering him- 
self, he continued the review. An aid-de-camp, young 
Beranger, arrived shortly after with intelligence that 
Murat's first line had been surprised and overthrown, his 
left turned by favor of the woods, his flank attacked, and 
his retreat cut off : that twelve pieces of cannon, twenty 
ammunition wagons, and thirty wagons belonging to the 
train were taken, two generals killed, three or four thou- 
sand men lost, as well as the baggage ; and, lastly, that 
the king himself was wounded. He had not been able 
to rescue the relics of his advanced guard from the enemy 
but by repeatedly charging their numerous troops, which 
already occupied the high road in his rear, his only retreat. 

Our honor, however, had been saved. The attack in 
front, directed by Kutusoff, was feeble ; Poniatowski, at 
some leagues' distance on the right, made a glorious resist- 
ance ; Murat and his resolute men, by almost superhuman 
exertions, checked Bagawout, who was ready to penetrate 
our left flank, and restored the fortunes of the day ; while 
Claparede and Latour-Maubourg cleared the defile of 
Spaskapli, two leagues in the rear of our line, which was 
already occupied by Platoff. Two Russian generals were 
killed, and others wounded : the loss of the enemy was 
considerable, but the advantage of the attack, our cannon, 
our position, the victory, in short, was theirs. 

As for Murat, he had no longer an advanced guard. 



224 NAPOLEON'S 

The armistice had destroyed half the remnant of his cav- 
alry. This engagement had finished it ; the survivors, 
emaciated with hunger, were so few as scarcely to furnish 
a charge. Thus had the war in earnest recommenced ; 
and it was now the i8th of October. 

At these tidings Napoleon recovered the fire of his 
youth. A thousand orders, general and particular, all 
differing, yet all in unison and all necessary, burst at once 
from his impetuous genius. Night had not yet arrived, 
and the whole army was already in motion. The emperor 
himself quitted Moscow before daylight on the 19th of 
October. "Let us march upon Kaluga," said he, "and 
woe be to those whom I meet with by the way ! " 

§ 10. Departure from Moscow ; the first battle. 

On the southern side of Moscow, near one of its gates, 
is an extensive suburb, divided by two high roads; both 
run to Kaluga : that on the right is the more ancient, the 
other is quite new. It was on the first that Kutusoff 
had just beaten Murat. By the same road Napoleon left 
Moscow on the 19th of October, announcing to his offi- 
cers his intention to return to the frontiers of Poland. 
One of them, Rapp, observed that " it was late, and that 
winter might overtake them by the way." The emperor 
replied "that he had been obliged to allow time to the 
soldiers to recruit themselves, and to the wounded col- 
lected at Moscow, and at other places, to move off towards 
Smolensk." Then, pointing to a still serene sky, he 
asked " if in that brilliant sun they did not recognize his 
star," But this appeal to his fortune, and the sinister ex- 
pression of his looks, belied the security which he affected. 

Napoleon entered Moscow with ninety thousand fight- 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 22$ 

ing men, and twenty thousand sick and wounded, and 
quitted it with more than a hundred thousand combatants. 
He left there with only twelve hundred sick. His stay, 
therefore, notwithstanding daily losses, had served to rest 
his infantry, to complete his stores, to augment his force 
by ten thousand men, and to protect the recovery or the 
retreat of a great part of his wounded. But on this very 
lirst day he could perceive that his cavalry and artillery 
might be said rather to crawl than to march. 

A melancholy spectacle added to the gloomy present- 
iments of our chief. The army had, ever since the 
preceding day, been pouring out of Moscow without inter- 
mission. In this column of one hundred and forty thou- 
sand men and about fifty thousand horses of all kinds, the 
hundred thousand combatants marching at its head with 
their knapsacks and their arms, upward of five hundred 
and fifty pieces of cannon, and two thousand artillery 
wagons, still exhibited a formidable appearance, worthy 
of soldiers who had conquered the world. But the rest, 
whose numbers were in an alarming proportion, resembled 
a horde of Tartars after a successful invasion. They 
formed three or four files of almost infinite length, in 
which there was a confused mixture of chaises, ammuni- 
tion wagons, handsome carriages, and, in short, vehicles 
of every kind. Here trophies of Russian, Turkish, and 
Persian colors, and the gigantic cross of Ivan the Great ; 
there, long-bearded Russian peasants carrying or driving 
along our booty, of which they constituted a part ; and 
some dragging even wheelbarrows filled with whatever 
they could remove. The fools were not likely to proceed 
in this manner till the conclusion of the first day, and yet 
their senseless avidity made them think nothing of battles 
and a march of two hundred leagues. 



226 NAPOLEON'S 

Among these followers of the army were particularly 
remarked a multitude of men of all nations, without uni- 
form and without arms, and servants swearing in every 
language, and urging by dint of shouts and blows the 
progress of elegant carriages, drawn by pigmy horses har- 
nessed with ropes. These were filled with provisions, or 
with booty saved from the flames. They carried, also, 
many French women with their children. Formerly these 
females had been happy inhabitants of Moscow ; but they 
now fled from the hatred of the Muscovites, which the 
invasion had drawn upon their heads, and the army was 
their only asylum. 

A few Russian girls, voluntary captives, also followed. 
It looked like a caravan, a wandering nation, or, rather, 
one of those armies of antiquity returning loaded with 
slaves and with spoils after a great devastation. It was 
inconceivable how the head of this column could draw and 
protect such a prodigious mass of equipages in so long a 
route. 

Notwithstamding the width of the road and the shouts 
of his escort. Napoleon had great difficulty in obtaining a 
passage through this immense throng. No doubt the ob- 
struction of a defile, a few forced marches, or a handful of 
Cossacks would have been sufficient to rid us all of this 
encumbrance ; but fortune or the enemy had alone a right 
to lighten us in this manner. As for the emperor, he was 
fully sensible that he could neither deprive his soldiers of 
this fruit of so many toils, nor reproach them for securing 
it. Besides, provisions concealed the booty ; and was it 
for him, who could not give his troops the subsistence he 
should have done, to forbid their carrying it along with 
them } Lastly, in case of the failure of military convey- 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 22/ 

anccs, these vehicles would be the only means of preserva- 
tion for the sick and wounded. 

Napoleon therefore extricated himself in silence from 
the immense train which he drew after him, and advanced 
on the old road leading to Kaluga. He pushed on in this 
direction for some hours, declaring that he would go and 
beat Kutusoff on the very field of his victory. But all at 
once, about midday, opposite to the castle of Krasnopa- 
chra, where he halted, he suddenly turned to the right 
with his army, and in three marches across the country 
gained the new road to Kaluga. 

The rain, which overtook him in the midst of this ma- 
noeuvre, spoiled the cross-roads, and obliged him to halt 
in them. This was a most unfortunate circumstance. 
It was with difficulty that our cannon were drawn out of 
the sloughs. • 

At any rate, the emperor had masked his movement by 
Ney's corps and the remnants of Murat's cavalry, which 
had remained behind the Motscha and at Woronowo. 
Kutusoff, deceived by this feint, was still waiting for the 
Grand Army on the old road, while, on the 23d of October, 
the whole of it had been transferred to the new one, and 
had but one march to make in order to pass quietly by 
him, and to get between him and Kaluga. 

On the first day of this flanking march, a letter was sent 
from Berthier to Kutusoff, as a last attempt, at peace, or 
perhaps merely as a ruse. No satisfactory answer was 
returned to it. 

On the 23d the imperial quarters were at Borowsk. 
That night was an agreeable one for the emperor : he 
was informed that, at six in the evening, Delzons with his 
division, who was four leagues in advance of him, had 



228 NAPOLEON'S 

found the town of Malo-jaroslavetz and the woods which 
command it unoccupied : this was a strong position within 
reach of Kutusoff, and the only point where he could cut 
us off from the new road to Kaluga. 

The emperor wished at first to secure that advantage by 
his presence : the order to march was even given, but 
shortly after withdrawn, we know not why. He passed 
the whole of that evening on horseback, not far from 
Borowsk, on the left of the road, the side on which he 
supposed Kutusoff to be. He reconnoitered the ground 
in the midst of a heavy rain, as if he anticipated that it 
might become a field of battle. Next day, the 24th, he 
learned that the Russians had disputed the possession of 
the town with Delzons. Either from confidence or uncer- 
tainty in his plans, this intelligence appeared to give him 
very little concern. 

He quitted Borowsk, therefore, late and leisurely, when 
the noise of a very smart engagement reached where he 
was ; he then became uneasy, hastened to an eminence 
and listened. " Had the Russians anticipated him 1 Was 
his manoeuvre thwarted t Had he not used sufficient ex- 
pedition in that march, the object of which was to pass the 
left flank of Kutusoff .? " 

The emperor was still listening : the noise increased. 
"Is it then a battle .? " he exclaimed. Every discharge 
agitated him, for the chief point with him was no longer 
to conquer, but to preserve, and he urged on with all 
possible speed, Davoust accompanying him ; but he and 
that marshal did not reach the field of battle till dark, 
when the firing was already subsiding, and the whole was 
over. 

The emperor saw the close of the battle, but without 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 229 

being able to assist the viceroy.^ A band of Cossacks 
from Twer had nearly captured one of his officers, who 
was only a very short distance from him. 

At this time an officer, sent by Prince Eugene, came to 
him and explained the whole affair. "The troops had," 
he said, "in the first place, been obliged to cross the Louja 
at the foot of the town, at the bottom of an elbow which 
the river makes in its course, and then to climb a steep 
hill. It is on this precipitous declivity, broken by pointed 
crags, that the town is built. Beyond is an elevated plain, 
surrounded with woods, from which run three roads, one 
in front coming from Kaluga, and two on the left, from 
Lectazowo, the seat of the intrenched camp of Kutusoff." 

After crossing the Louja by a narrow bridge, the high 
road from Kaluga runs along the bottom of a ravine which 
ascends to the town, and then enters it. The enemy in 
mass occupied this hollow way ; Delzons and his French- 
men rushed upon them pell-mell ; the Russians were 
broken and overthrown ; they gave way, and presently 
our bayonets glistened on the heights. 

Delzons, conceiving himself sure of the victory, an- 
nounced it as won. He had nothing but a pile of build- 
ings to storm ; but his soldiers hesitated. He himself 
advanced, and was encouraging them by his words, actions, 
and example, when a ball struck him in the forehead, and 
extended him on the ground. His brother threw himself 
upon him, covered him with his body, clasped him in his 
arms, and was striving to bear him out of the fire and the 
fray, when a second ball hit him also, and both expired 
together. 

This loss left a great void, which required to be filled. 

^ The viceroy : Prince Eugene. 



230 A^APOLEON'S 

Guilleminot succeeded Delzons, and the first thing he did 
was to throw a hundred men into a church and the yard 
around it, in the walls of which they made loopholes. 
This church stood on the left of the high road, which it 
commanded, and to its possession we owed the victory. 
Five times during the day was this post passed by the 
Russian columns as they were pursuing ours, and five 
times did its fire, seasonably poured upon their flank and 
rear, harass them and retard their progress : afterward, 
when we resumed the offensive, this position placed them 
between two fires, and ensured the success of our attacks. 

Scarcely had that general made this disposition when 
he was assailed by a host of the enemy : he was driven 
back towards the bridge, where the viceroy had stationed 
himself in order to judge how to act and to prepare his 
reserves. At first the re-enforcements which he sent 
came up but slowly one after another ; and, as is almost 
always the case where there is this tardy movement, being 
singly inadequate to any great effort, each was succes- 
sively destroyed without result. 

At length the whole of the 14th division was engaged ; 
and the combat was carried for the third time to the 
heights. But when the French had passed the houses, 
advanced beyond the central point from which they had 
set out, and reached the plain where they were exposed, 
and where the circle expanded, they could advance no 
farther ; overwhelmed by the fire of a whole Russian army, 
they were daunted and shaken ; fresh columns incessantly 
came up : our thinned ranks gave way and were broken ; 
the obstacles of the ground increased their confusion ; and 
at length they retired precipitately, and abandoned every- 
thino-. 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 23 1 

Meanwhile, the shells having set fire to the wooden 
town behind them, in their retreat they were stopped by 
the conflagration : one fire drove them back upon another ; 
the Russian recruits, wrought up to a pitch of fanatic fury, 
closely pursued them ; our soldiers became enraged ; they 
fought man to man ; some were seen seizing each other 
with one hand and striking with the other, until both 
rolled down the precipices into the flames without quitting 
their hold. There the wounded expired, either suffocated 
by the smoke or consumed by the flames. 

The 15th division was still left. The viceroy summoned 
it : as it advanced, it threw a brigade into the suburb on 
the left, and another into the town on the right. It con- 
sisted of Italians, recruits, who had never before been in 
action. They ascended, shouting enthusiastically, igno- 
rant of the danger or despising it, from that singular dis- 
position which renders life less dear in its flower than in 
its decline, either because while young we fear death less 
from the feeling of its distance, or because at that age, 
rich in years and lavish of everything, we are prodigal of 
life as the wealthy are of their fortune. 

The shock was terrible : everything was reconquered for 
the fourth time, and speedily lost again in like manner. 
More eager to begin than their seniors, these young troops 
were sooner disheartened, and returned flying to the old 
battalions, which supported them, and were obliged to lead 
them back to danger. 

The Russians, imboldened by their constantly increas- 
ing numbers and by success, descended by their right to 
gain possession of the bridge and to cut off our retreat. 
Prince Eugene had nothing left but his last reserve : he 
and his guard, therefore, now took part in the combat. At 



232 NAPOLEON'S 

this sight, and in obedience to his call, the remains of the 
13th, 14th, and 15th divisions resumed their courage: they 
made a last and desperate effort, and for the fifth time the 
combat was transferred to the heights. 

At the same time. Colonel Peraldi and the Italian troops 
overthrew with their bayonets the Russians who were 
already approaching the left of the bridge : infuriated by 
the smoke and the fire through which they had passed, 
and encouraged by their success and the havoc which they 
made, they pushed forward without stopping on the elevated 
plain, and endeavored to make themselves masters of the 
enemy's cannon ; but one of those deep clefts with which 
the soil of Russia is intersected stopped them in the 
midst of a destructive fire, their ranks opened, the enemy's 
cavalry attacked them, and they were driven back to the 
very gardens of the suburb. There they paused and 
rallied : all, both French and Italians, obstinately defended 
the upper avenues of the town, and the Russians, being at 
length repulsed, drew back and concentrated themselves 
on the road to Kaluga, between the woods and Malo- 
jaroslavetz. 

In this manner did 18,000 Italians and French, crowded 
together at the bottom of a ravine, defeat 50,000 Russians, 
posted over their heads, and seconded by all the obstacles 
that a town built on a steep declivity is capable of pre- 
senting. 

The army, however, surveyed with sorrow this field of 
battle, where seven generals and 4000 French and Italians 
had been killed or wounded. The sight of the enemy's loss 
afforded no consolation ; it was not twice the amount of 
ours, and their wounded would be saved. It was moreover 
recollected, that in a similar situation, Peter I., in sacrific- 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 233 

ing ten Russians for one Swede, thought that he was not 
sustaining merely an equal loss, but that he was gaining 
even by so terrible a bargain. But what caused the 
greatest pain was the reflection that this sanguinary con- 
flict might have been spared. ^ 

§ 11. Napoleon holds a council of war and decides to retreat 

northward. 

Do you recollect, comrades, that fatal field .-• Can you 
still figure to yourselves the blood-stained ruins of that 
town, those deep ravines, and the woods which surround 
that elevated plain, and mark it, as it were, for a field of 
combat } On the one side were the French, quitting the 
north, from which they sought to fly ; on the other, at the 
entrance of the wood, were the Russians, guarding the 
south, and striving to drive us back upon their all-subduing 
winter. In the midst of this plain, between the two armies, 
was Napoleon, his steps and his eyes wandering from south 
to west, along the roads to Kaluga and Medyn, both which 
were closed against him. On that to Kaluga were Kutusoff 
and one hundred and twenty thousand men, ready to dis- 
pute with him sixty miles of defiles; towards Medyn he 
beheld a numerous cavalry : it was Platoff and those same 
hordes which had just penetrated the flank of the army, 
traversed it through and through, and burst forth, laden 
with booty, to form again on his right flank, where re- 
enforcements and artillery were waiting for them. It was 

1 The indecisive battle of Malo-jaroslavetz, a town about fifty miles south- 
west of Moscow, compelled Napoleon to give up his original plan of retreat, 
which would have taken him through an unexhausted country to the south- 
ward, and forced him to go back to the north, retracing his steps by the 
route he came. 



234 NAPOLEON'S 

on that side that the eyes of the emperor were fixed the 
longest ; it was principally in regard to it that he listened 
to reports of his officers, and consulted his maps : until, 
oppressed with regret and gloomy forebodings, he slowly 
returned to his headquarters. 

Murat, Prince Eugene, Berthier, Davoust and Bessieres 
followed him. This miserable habitation of an obscure 
artisan contained within it an emperor, two kings, and three 
generals. Here they were about to decide the fate of 
Europe, and of the army which had conquered it. Smo- 
lensk was the goal. Should they march thither by Kaluga, 
Medyn, or Mojaisk.? Napoleon was seated at a table, his 
head supported by his hands, which concealed his features, 
as well as the anguish which they no doubt expressed. 

A silence fraught with such imminent perils was for 
some time respected, until Murat, whose actions were 
always the result of impetuous feeling, became weary of 
this hesitation. 

" Give him but the remnant of his cavalry and that of 
the Guard," he said, "and he would force his way into 
Russian forests and the Russian battalions, overthrow 
all before him, and open anew to the army the road to 
Kaluga." 

Here Napoleon, raising his head, extinguished all his 
fire by saying that "we had exhibited temerity enough 
already ; that we had done but too much for glory, and it 
was now high time to give up thinking of anything but 
how to save the rest of the army." 

Bessieres, either because his pride revolted at the idea 
of being put under the command of the King of Naples, 
or from a desire to preserve uninjured the cavalry of the 
Guard, which he had formed, for which he was answerable 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 235 

to Napoleon, and which he exclusively commanded, finding 
himself supported, then ventured to add, that " neither the 
army nor even the Guard had sufficient spirit left for such 
efforts." The marshal concluded by giving his opinion 
in favor of retreat, which the emperor approved by his 
silence. 

The Prince of Eckmtihl then immediately said that, 
"as a retreat seemed decided upon, he proposed that it 
should be by Medyn and Smolensk." But Murat here in- 
terrupted him ; and, whether from enmity, or from that 
discouragement which usually succeeds the rejection of a 
rash measure, he declared himself astonished "that any 
one should dare propose so imprudent a step to the em- 
peror. Had Davoust sworn the destruction of the army ? 
Would he have so long and heavy a column trail along 
in utter uncertainty, without guides, and on an unknown 
track, within reach of Kutusoff, presenting its flank to all 
the attacks of the enemy } Would he, Davoust, defend 
it .'' When in our rear Borowsk and Verei'a would lead us 
without danger to Mojaisk, why reject that safe route? 
There provisions must have been already collected, there 
everything was known to us, and we could not be misled 
by any traitor." 

At these words, Davoust, burning with a rage which he 
could scarcely repress, replied that "he proposed a retreat 
through a fertile country, by an untouched, plentiful, and 
well supplied route, where the villages were still standing, 
and by the shortest road, that the enemy might not be able 
to cut us off, as on the route by Mojaisk to Smolensk, rec- 
ommended by Murat. And what a route ! a desert of sand 
and ashes, where convoys of wounded would increase our 
embarrassment, where we should meet with nothing but 
ruins, traces of blood, skeletons, and famine ! 



236 NAPOLEON'S 

"Moreover, though he deemed it his duty to give his 
opinion when it was asked, he was ready to obey orders 
contrary to it with the same zeal as if they were consonant 
with his suggestions ; but that the emperor alone had a 
right to impose silence on him, and not Murat, who was 
not his sovereign, and never should be ! " 

The quarrel growing warm, Bessieres and Berthier inter- 
posed. As for the emperor, still absorbed and in the same 
attitude, he appeared insensible to what was passing. At 
length he broke up the council with the words, "Well, 
gentlemen, I will decide." 

He decided on retreat, and by that road which would 
carry him most speedily to a distance from the enemy ; 
but it required another desperate effort before he could 
bring himself to give an order of march so new to him. 
So painful, indeed, was this effort, that in the inward 
struggle which it produced he lost the use of his senses. 

It is a remarkable fact, that he issued orders for this 
retreat northward at the very moment that Kutusoff and 
his Russians, dismayed at their defeat at Malo-jaroslavetz, 
were retiring towards the south. 

From that moment Napoleon had nothing in his view 
but Paris, just as on leaving Paris he saw nothing but Mos- 
cow. It was on the 26th of October that the fatal move- 
ment of our retreat commenced. Davoust, with twenty- 
five thousand men, remained as a rear-guard. While by 
advancing a few paces, without being aware of it, he was 
spreading consternation among the Russians, the Grand 
Army, in astonishment, was turning its back on them. It 
marched with downcast eyes, as if ashamed and humbled. 
In the midst of it, its commander, gloomy and silent, 
seemed to be anxiously measuring his line of communi- 
cation with the fortresses on the Vistula. 



RETREAT EROM MOSCOW. 237 

For the space of more than two hundred and fifty leagues 
it offered but two points where he could halt and rest, the 
first Smolensk, the second Minsk. He had made those 
towns his two great depots, where immense magazines 
were established. 

Napoleon, however, reckoned upon the Duke of Belluno 
and his thirty-six thousand fresh troops. That corps had 
been at Smolensk ever since the beginning of September. 
He relied also upon detachments being sent from his 
depots, on the sick and wounded who had recovered, and 
on the stragglers, who would be rallied and formed at 
Wilna into marching battalions. All these would succes- 
sively come into line, and fill up the chasms made in his 
ranks by the sword, famine, and disease. He should there- 
fore have time to regain that position on the Dwina and 
the Borysthenes, where he wished it to be believed that his 
presence, added to that of Victor, Saint-Cyr, and Mac- 
donald, would overawe Wittgenstein,^ check Kutusoff, and 
threaten the Czar Alexander even in his second capital. 

He accordingly announced that he was going to take 
post on the Dwina. But it was not in truth, upon that 
river and the Borysthenes that his thoughts rested : he 
was sensible that it was not with a harassed and reduced 
army that he could guard the interval between those two 
rivers and their courses, which the ice would speedily seal. 

It was therefore a hundred leagues beyond Smolensk, 
in a more compact position, behind the morasses of the 
Berezina — to Minsk, that it was necessary to repair in 
search of winter quarters, from which he was then forty 
marches distant. 

1 Wittgenstein : commander of one division of the Russian forces, held a 
position on the Dwina River and later on the Berezina, a tributary of the 
Dnieper. 



238 NAPOLEON'S 

§ 12. Napoleon's attempt to destroy the Kremlin: view of 
the battle-field of Borodino. 

Napoleon had arrived quite pensive at Verei'a,^ when 
Mortier presented himself before him. But I here dis- 
cover, that, hurried along in the relation just as we then 
were in reality, by the rapid succession of violent scenes 
and memorable events, my attention has been diverted 
from occurrences worthy of notice. On the 23d of Octo- 
ber, at half past one in the morning, the air was shaken 
by a tremendous explosion, which for a moment star- 
tled both armies, though amid such mighty anticipations 
scarcely anything then much excited their astonishment. 

Mortier had obeyed his orders : the Kremlin was no 
more.^ Barrels of powder had been placed in all the 
halls of the palaces of the Czars, and one hundred and 
eighty-three thousand pounds under the vaults which sup- 
ported them. The marshal, with eight thousand men, had 
remained on this volcano, which a single Russian shell 
might have exploded. Here he covered the march of the 
army upon Kaluga, and the retreat of our different con- 
voys towards Mojaisk. 

Among these eight thousand men there were scarcely 
two thousand on whom Mortier could rely ; the others 
were dismounted cavalry, men of different countries and 
regiments, under new oiBcers, with dissimilar habits, with 
no common recollections, in short, without any bond of 
union, forming a rabble rather than an organized body, 
and who could scarcely fail in a short time to disperse. 

1 Vereia : a village about twenty-five miles northwest of Malo-jaroslavetz. 

2 Kremlin : it was afterward found that the fortress was but slightly in- 
jured. 



KETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 239 

This marshal, therefore, was looked upon as a doomed 
man. The other chiefs, his old companions in glory, had 
left him with tears in their eyes, as well as the emperor 
himself, who said to him " that he relied on his good for- 
tune ; but still, in war, we must sometimes make part of 
a sacrifice." Mortier resigned himself without hesitation 
to his fate. His orders were to defend the Kremlin, and 
on retreating to blow it up, and to burn what still remained 
of the city. It was on the 21st of October, that Napoleon 
sent him his last commands. After executing them, the 
marshal was to march upon Vere'ia, and to form the rear 
guard of the army. 

In this letter Napoleon particularly recommended to 
him " to put the men still remaining in the hospitals into 
the carriages belonging to the young rear guard, those of 
the dismounted cavalry, and any others that he might find. 
The Romans," he added, "awarded a civic crown to him 
who had saved a citizen : so many soldiers as he should 
save, so many crowns would the Duke of Treviso deserve." 

At length, after four days' resistance, the French bade 
a final adieu to that fatal city. They carried with them 
four hundred wounded, and, on retiring, deposited in a safe 
and secret place a firework, skilfully prepared, which was 
already slowly consuming : the rate of its burning had 
been minutely calculated, so that it was known precisely 
at what hour the fire would reach the immense collection 
of powder buried among the foundations of these devoted 
palaces. 

Mortier hastened his flight ; but as he was retiring, some 
greedy Cossacks and miserable-looking Muscovites, allured 
probably by the prospect of pillage, approached : they lis- 
tened, and, imboldened by the apparent quiet which per- 



240 NAPOLEON'S 

vaded the fortress, they ventured to penetrate into it : 
they ascended ; and their greedy hands were ah'eady 
stretched forth to lay hold on their plunder, when in an 
instant they were all hurled into the air with the buildings 
they had come to pillage, and with thirty thousand stand 
of arms that had been left in them ; and soon their man- 
gled limbs, mingled with fragments of walls and shattered 
weapons, thrown to a great distance, descended in a horri- 
ble shower. 

The earth shook under the feet of Mortier : at Fomins- 
koe, thirty miles off, the emperor heard the explosion ; and 
in that indignant tone in which he sometimes addressed 
Europe, he published the following day a bulletin, at 
Borowsk, announcing that " the Kremlin, the arsenal, the 
magazines, were all destroyed; that that ancient citadel, 
which dated from the origin of the monarchy, and was the 
first palace of the Czars, no longer existed ; that Moscow 
was now but a heap of ruins, without importance either 
political or military. He had abandoned it to Russian 
beggars and plunderers, in order to march against Kutu- 
soff, to throw himself on the left wing of that general, to 
drive him back, and then to proceed quietly to the banks 
of the Dwina, where he should take up his winter quar- 
ters." Then, apprehensiv^e lest he should appear to be 
retreating, he added that " there he should be within 
eighty leagues of Wilna and of St. Petersburg, a double 
advantage ; that is to say, twenty marches nearer to his 
resources and his object." By this remark he hoped to 
give to his retreat the air of an offensive movement. 

It was on this occasion he declared that "he had refused 
to give orders for the entire destruction of the country 
which he was quitting : he felt a repugnance to aggravate 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 24 1 

the miseries of its inhabitants. To punish the Russian 
incendiary, and a few wretches who made war Hke Tartars, 
he would not ruin nine thousand proprietors, and leave two 
hundred thousand serfs, innocent of all these barbarities, 
absolutely destitute of resources." 

On the 28th of October we again beheld Mojaisk.^ That 
town was still full of wounded : some were carried away, 
and the rest collected together and abandoned, as at Mos- 
cow, to the generosity of the Russians. Napoleon had 
proceeded but a short distance from that place when the 
winter began. Thus, after an obstinate combat, and ten 
days' marching and countermarching, the army, which had 
brought from Moscow only fifteen rations of flour per man, 
had advanced but three days' march on its retreat. It was 
in want of provisions, and now overtaken by the winter. 

Some leagues from Mojaisk we had to cross the Kologa. 
It was but a large rivulet : two trees, the same number of 
props, and a few planks were sufficient to ensure the pas- 
sage ; but such was the confusion and inattention that the 
emperor was detained there. Several pieces of cannon, 
which it was attempted to get across by fording, were lost. 
It seemed as if each corps was marching separately, as if 
there were no staff, no general order, no common tie, noth- 
ing, in short, that bound them together. In fact, the eleva- 
tion of the chiefs rendered them too independent of each 
other. The emperor himself had become so exceedingly 
great, that he was at an immeasurable distance from the 
details of his army ; while Berthier, holding an intermediate 
place between him and officers, all of whom were kings, 
princes, or marshals, was obliged to act with a great deal of 
caution. He was, besides, incompetent to his situation. 

1 Mojaisk : about ten miles northwest of Vereia and seventy west of 
Moscow. 



242 NAPOLEON'S 

The emperor, stopped by the frivolous obstacle of a 
broken bridge, confined himself to a gesture expressive of 
dissatisfaction and contempt, to which Berthier replied 
only by a look of resignation. On this particular point he 
had received no orders from the emperor : he therefore 
conceived that he was not to blame ; for Berthier was a 
faithful echo, a mirror, and nothing more. Always ready, 
clear, and distinct, he, so to speak, exactly repeated the 
emperor, reflected him, but added nothing of his own ; and 
what Napoleon forgot was never supplied. 

After passing the Kologa we marched on, absorbed in 
thought, when some of us, raising our eyes, uttered a cry 
of horror. Each one instantly looked about him, and there 
lay stretched before us a plain trampled, bare, and devas- 
tated, all the trees cut down within a few feet from the 
surface, and farther off craggy hills, the highest of which 
appeared misshapen, and bore a striking resemblance to an 
extinguished volcano. The ground around us was every- 
where covered with fragments of helmets and cuirasses, 
with broken drums, gun-stocks, tatters of uniforms, and 
standards dyed with blood. 

On this desolate spot ^ lay thirty thousand half-devoured 
corpses ; while a pile of skeletons on the summit of one of 
the hills overlooked the whole. It seemed as though Death 
had here fixed his throne. Presently the cry was heard, 
"It is the field of the great battle ! " forming a long and 
doleful murmur. The emperor passed quickly by. No 
one stopped. Cold, hunger, and the enemy were urging 
us on : we merely turned our faces as we marched along 
to take a last melancholy look at the vast grave of so many 

1 The battle-field of Borodino, which Napoleon had fought on his march 
to Moscow. See Introduction. 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 243 

companions in arms, uselessly sacrificed, and whose re- 
mains we were obliged to leave behind, unheeded and 
uninterred. 

§ 13. Napoleon reaches Viazma. Battle near that place. 

At length the emperor reached Viazma.^ He here 
halted to wait for Prince Eugene and Davoust, and to 
reconnoitre the road to Medyn and Yucknow, which at this 
place unites with the high road to Smolensk. It was this 
cross-road which might possibly bring the Russian army 
from Malo-jaroslavetz on his passage. But on the first of 
November, after waiting thirty-six hours and seeing no 
indications of that army, he again set out, wavering be- 
tween the hope that Kutusoff had fallen asleep, and the 
fear lest he might have left Viazma on his right, and pro- 
ceeded two marches farther to cut off his retreat. He left 
Ney, however, at Viazma to collect the first and fourth 
corps, and to relieve, by forming the rear guard, Davoust, 
whom he judged to be fatigued. 

He complained of the tardiness of the latter, and wrote 
to reproach him with being still five marches behind, when 
he ought to have been no more than three : the genius of 
that marshal he considered too methodical to direct, in a 
suitable manner, so irregular a march. 

But this delay was accounted for by the fact that 
Davoust had found a marsh without a bridge, and com- 
pletely encumbered with wagons. He had dragged them 
out of the slough in sight of the enemy, and so near them 
that their fires lighted his labors, and the sound of their 
drums mingled with that of his own voice. For the mar- 
shal and his generals could not yet resolve on abandoning 

1 Viazma : about fifty miles west of Borodino. 



244 NAPOLEON'S 

to the enemy so many trophies ; nor did they make up 
their minds to it until after fruitless exertions, and in the 
last extremity. 

The road they were traversing was crossed at short 
intervals by marshy hollows. A slope, slippery as glass 
with the ice, hurried the carriages into them, and there 
they stuck fast : to draw them out it was necessary to 
climb on the opposite side a similar slope, where the 
horses, whose shoes were worn entirely smooth, could 
obtain no footing, and where every moment they and their 
drivers dropped down exhausted together. The famished 
soldiers immediately fell upon these luckless animals and 
tore them to pieces ; then at fires, kindled with the remains 
of their carriages, they broiled the yet bleeding flesh, and 
devoured it. 

Meanwhile the artillerymen, a chosen corps, and their 
officers, all brought up in the first military school in the 
world, kept off these unfortunate wretches whenever they 
could, and took the horses from their own carriages and 
wagons, which they abandoned to save the guns. To 
these they harnessed their horses, nay, even themselves ; 
while the Cossacks, observing their disasters from a dis- 
tance, though they dared not attack, with their light pieces 
mounted on sledges, threw their balls among these dis- 
orderly groups, and increased the confusion. 

On the 3d of November, Prince Eugene was advancing 
towards Viazma, preceded by his equipages and his artil- 
lery, when the first light of day all at once discovered to 
him his retreat threatened by an army on his left, behind 
him his rear guard cut off, and on his left the plain covered 
with stragglers and scattered vehicles, fleeing before the 
lances of the enemy. At the same time, towards Viazma 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 245 

he heard Marshal Ney, who should have assisted him, fight- 
ing for his own preservation. 

At the same time, Compans, one of Davoust's generals, 
joined the Italian rear guard with his division. These 
cleared a passage for themselves, and while, united w^ith 
the viceroy, they were warmly engaged, Davoust with his 
column passed rapidly behind them, along the left side of 
the high road, then crossing it, as soon as he had got 
beyond them, he claimed his place in the order of battle, 
took the right wing, and found himself between Viazma 
and the Russians. Prince Eugene gave up to him the 
ground which he had been defending, and crossed to the 
other side of the road. The enemy then began to extend 
himself in front of them, and endeavored to outflank their 
wings. 

Miloradovitch, the Russian general, left to himself, now 
tried to break the French line of battle ; but he could 
penetrate it by his fire alone, which made dreadful havoc 
in our ranks. Eugene and Davoust were growing weak ; 
and, as they heard another action in the rear of their right, 
they imagined that the rest of the Russian army was 
approaching Viazma by the Yuknof road, the outlet of 
which Ney was defending. 

It was only, however, an advanced guard : but they were 
alarmed at the noise of this engagement in the rear of 
their own, threatening their retreat. The action had now 
continued ever since seven in the morning, and night was 
approaching : the baggage must by this time have got 
away, and the French generals began to retire. 

This retrograde movement increased the ardor of the 
enemy, and but for a memorable effort of the 25th, 57th, 
and 85th regiments, and the protection of a ravine, 



246 NAPOLEON'S 

Davoust's corps would have been broken, turned by its 
right, and destroyed. Prince Eugene, who was not so 
briskly attacked, was able to effect his retreat more rapidly 
through Viazma; but the Rus'sians followed him thither, 
and had penetrated into the town at the very time when 
Davoust, pursued by 20,000 men, and overwhelmed by 
eighty pieces of cannon, in his turn attempted to pass, 

Morand's division first entered the place : it was march- 
ing on with confidence, under the idea that the action was 
over, when the Russians, who were concealed by the wind- 
ings of the streets, suddenly fell upon it. The surprise 
was complete, and the confusion great : Morand neverthe- 
less rallied and encouraged his men, retrieved matters, and 
fought his way through. 

It was Compans who put an end to the affair. He 
closed the march with his division. Finding himself too 
closely pressed by the bravest troops of Miloradovitch, he 
turned about, dashed in person at the most eager, over- 
threw them, and having thus made them fear him, he 
finished his retreat without farther molestation. This con- 
flict, glorious to each, was in its result disastrous to all. 
It was, unhappily, without unity or order. There were 
troops enough to conquer had there not been too many 
commanders. It was not till near two o'clock that the 
latter met to concert their manoeuvres, and these were even 
then executed without harmony. 

When at length the river, the town of Viazma, night, 
mutual fatigue, and Marshal Ney had established a barrier 
between them and the enemy, the danger being adjourned 
and the bivouacs established, the numbers were counted. 
Several pieces of cannon which had been broken, the 
baggage, and four thousand killed or wounded were found 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 247 

missing. Many of the soldiers, too, had dispersed. Their 
honor had been saved, but there were immense gaps in 
their ranks. It was necessary to close them up, to bring 
everything within a narrower compass, to form what 
remained into a more compact whole. Each regiment 
scarcely composed a battalion, each battalion scarcely a 
platoon. The soldiers remaining had no longer their 
accustomed places, comrades, or officers. 

This sad reorganization took place by the light of the 
conflagration of Viazma, and during the successive dis- 
charges of the cannon of Ney and Miloradovitch, the 
thunders of which were prolonged amid the double gloom 
of the night and of the forests. Several times the rem- 
nants of these brave battalions, conceiving they were at- 
tacked, crawled to their arms. The next morning, when 
they again fell into their ranks, they were astonished at 
the smallness of their numbers. 



§ 14. Dreadful snow-storm on the 6th of November ; its effects 
upon the troops. 

The spirits of the troops were nevertheless still sup- 
ported by the example of their leaders, by the hopes of 
finding all their wants supplied at Smolensk, and still 
more by the aspect of a yet brilliant sun, that universal 
source of hope and life, which seemed to contradict and 
deny the spectacles of despair and death that already 
encompassed us. 

But on the 6th of November the heavens changed. 
Their azure disappeared. The army marched enveloped 
in a chilling mist. This mist became thicker, and pres- 
ently a blinding storm of snow descended upon it. It 



248 NAPOLEON'S 

seemed as if the sky itself were falling, and uniting with 
the earth and our enemies to complete our destruction. 
All objects rapidly changed their appearance, becoming 
utterly confounded, and not to be recognized any more : 
we proceeded without knowing where we were, without 
perceiving the point to which we were bound ; everything 
was converted into an obstacle to stop our progress. 
While we were struggling with the tempest of wind and 
snow, the latter, driven by the storm, lodged and accumu- 
lated in every hollow, concealing unknown abysses, which 
perfidiously opened beneath our feet. There the soldiers 
were ingulfed, and the weakest, resigning themselves to 
their fate, found their grave in these treacherous pits. 

Those who followed turned aside ; but the tempest, 
driving into their faces the snow that was descending 
from the sky and that which it raised from the earth, 
seemed resolved to arrest their farther progress. The 
Russian winter, in this new form, attacked them at every 
point : it penetrated through their light garments, and 
their rent and worn-out shoes. Their wet clothes froze 
to their bodies : an icy envelope encased them, and stiff- 
ened all their limbs. A piercing and violent wind almost 
prevented respiration ; and, seizing their breath the moment 
it was exhaled, converted it into icicles, which hung from 
their beards all about their' mouths. 

The miserable creatures still crawled shivering along, 
till the snow, gathering in balls on the soles of their shoes, 
or a fragment of some broken article, a branch of a tree, 
or the body of one of their comrades, encountered in the 
way, caused them to stumble and fall. There their groans < 
were unheeded ; the snow soon covered them ; slight hil- 
locks marked the spots where they lay : there was their 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 249 

only grave. The road, like a cemetery, was thickly studded 
with these elevations ; the most intrepid and the most in- 
different were affected ; they passed quickly on with averted 
looks. But before them and around them there was noth- 
ing but snow ; this immense and dismal uniformity extended 
farther than the eye could reach ; the imagination was as- 
tounded : it seemed a vast winding-sheet which Nature had 
thrown over the army. The only objects not enveloped 
by it were some gloomy pines, trees of the tombs, with 
their funereal verdure and their gigantic and motionless 
trunks completing the solemnity of a general mourning, 
and of an army dying amid nature already dead. 

Everything, even to their very arms, still offensive at 
Malo-jaroslavetz, but since defensive only, now turned 
against our men. They seemed to their frozen limbs an 
insupportable weight. In the falls they experienced, they 
dropped almost unperceived from their hands, and were 
broken or buried in the snow. If they rose again it was 
without them : they had not thrown them away, but hun- 
ger and cold had wrested them from their grasp. The 
fingers of others were frozen to the muskets they still 
held, depriving them of the motion necessary to keep up 
some degree of warmth and of life. 

We soon met with numbers of men belonging to all the 
different corps, sometimes singly, sometimes in troops. 
They had not basely deserted their colors : it was cold and 
exhaustion which had separated them from them. In this 
mortal struggle, at once general and individual, they had 
parted from each other, and there they were, disarmed, 
vanquished, defenceless, without leaders, obeying nothing 
but the most urgent instinct of self-preservation. 

Most of them, attracted by the sight of by-paths, dis- 



250 NAPOLEON'S 

persed themselves over the country in hopes of finding 
bread and shelter for the coming night ; but on their first 
passage all had been laid waste to the extent of seven or 
eight leagues : they met only with Cossacks and an armed 
population, which gathered around them, wounded and 
stripped them naked, and then left them, with bursts of 
savage laughter, to perish in the snow. These people, 
who had risen at the call of Alexander and Kutusoff, and 
who had not then learned, as they since have, to avenge 
nobly a country which they had been unable to defend, 
hovered on both flanks of the army under favor of the 
woods. Those whom they did not despatch with their 
pikes and hatchets, they drove back to the fatal and all- 
devouring high road. 

Night then came on : a night of sixteen hours ! But on 
that snow, which covered everything, where were they to 
halt, where sit, where lie down, where find even a root to 
satisfy their hunger, or dry wood to kindle a fire .'' Fatigue, 
darkness, and repeated orders nevertheless stopped those 
whom their moral and physical strength and the efforts 
of their officers had still kept together. They strove to 
establish themselves ; but the tempest, not yet subsided, 
dispersed the first preparations for bivouacs. The pines, 
laden with frost, obstinately resisted ignition; while the 
snow, which still continued to fall from the sky, and that 
on the ground, which melted with the effect of the first 
heat, extinguished their kindling fires, and, with them, the 
strength and spirits of the men. 

When at length the flames gained the ascendancy, the 
officers and soldiers around them commenced preparing 
their wretched repast : it consisted of lean and ragged 
pieces of flesh torn from the horses that had given out, 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 25 I 

and at most a few spoonfuls of rye flour mixed with snow- 
water. The next morning circular ranges of soldiers ex- 
tended lifeless marked the sites of the bivouacs, and the 
ground about them was strewed with the bodies of several 
thousand horses. 

From that day we began to place less reliance on one 
another. In that vivacious army, susceptible of all impres- 
sions, and taught to reason by an advanced civilization, 
despondency and neglect of discipline rapidly spread, the 
imagination knowing no bounds in evil any more than in 
good. Henceforward, at every bivouac, at every difficult 
passage, nay, every moment, some portion separated from 
the yet organized lines and fell into disorder. There were 
some, however, who were proof against this widespread 
contagion of insubordination and despair. These were 
officers, non-commissioned officers, and the firmest among 
the soldiers. They were extraordinary men ; they encour- 
aged one another by repeating the name of Smolensk, 
which town they knew they were approaching, and where 
they had been promised that all their wants should be 
supplied. 

It was thus, after this deluge of snow, and the increase 
of cold which it foreboded, that each one, whether officer 
or soldier, either preserved or lost his fortitude, according 
to his disposition, age, or constitution ; while he who of all 
our leaders had hitherto been the most strict in enforcing 
discipline, now paid but little attention to it. Thrown out 
of his established ideas of regularity, order, and method, 
he was seized with despair at the sight of such universal 
confusion : and conceiving, before the rest, that all was 
lost, he felt himself ready to abandon all. 

From this point for some distance, nothing remarkable 



252 NAPOLEON'S 

occurred in the imperial column except that it was found 
necessary to throw the spoils of Moscow into the Lake of 
Semlewo ; cannon, Gothic armor, the ornaments of the 
Kremlin, and the cross of Ivan the Great, were all buried 
in its waters. Trophies, glory, those acquisitions to which 
we had sacrificed everything, all now became a burden 
to us: our object was no longer to embellish life, but to 
preserve it. In this vast wreck, the army, which might be 
compared to a mighty ship tossed by the most tremendous 
of tempests, threw without hesitation into that sea of ice 
and snow everything that could burden or impede its 
progress. 

The attitude of Napoleon was the same that he retained 
throughout the whole of this dismal retreat. It was grave, 
silent, and resigned : suffering much less in body than 
others, but far more in mind, and brooding with speech- 
less agony over his misfortunes. At that moment Gen- 
eral Charpentier sent him from Smolensk a convoy of 
provisions. Bessieres wished to take possession of them ; 
but the emperor instantly ordered them to be forwarded to 
the Prince of Moskwa, saying that " those who were fight- 
ing must eat before the rest." At the same time, he sent 
word to Ney " to defend himself long enough to allow him 
some stay at Smolensk, where the army should eat, rest, 
and be reorganized." 

The Russians, however, advanced under favor of a wood 
and of our forsaken carriages, whence they kept up a fire 
of musketry on Ney's troops. Half of the latter, whose 
icy arms froze their stiffened fingers, became discouraged ; 
they gave way, excusing themselves by their want of firm- 
ness on the preceding day, and fleeing because they had 
before fled, which but for this, they would have considered 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 253 

as impossible. But Ney, rushing in among them, seized 
one of their muskets, and led them back to action, which 
he was himself the first to renew ; exposing his life like 
a private soldier, with a firelock in his hand, the same as 
though he had been neither possessed of wealth, nor 
power, nor consideration ; in short, as if he had still 
everything to gain, when in fact he had everything to 
lose. But, though he had again turned soldier, he ceased 
not to be general : he took advantage of the ground, sup- 
ported himself against a height, and covered his approach 
by occupying a palisaded house. His generals and colonels, 
among whom he particularly remarked Fezenzac, strenu- 
ously seconded him ; and the enemy, who had expected to 
pursue, was obliged to retreat. 

By this action Ney afforded the army a respite of twenty- 
four hours ; and it profited by it to proceed towards Smo- 
lensk. The next day, and every succeeding day, he dis- 
played the same heroism. Between Viazma and Smolensk 
he fought ten whole days. 

§ 15. Defeat and entire dissolution of Prince Eugene's corps 
at the passage of the Wop. 

On the 13th of November Ney was approaching that 
city, which he was not to enter till the ensuing day, and 
had faced about to beat off the enemy, when all at once 
the hills upon which he intended to support his left were 
seen covered with a multitude of fugitives. In their terror, 
these unfortunate wretches fell, and rolled down to where 
he was upon the frozen snow, which they stained with 
their blood. A band of Cossacks, which was soon per- 
ceived in the midst of them, sufficiently accounted for 
this disorder. The astonished marshal, having caused 



254 NAPOLEON'S 

this horde of enemies to be dispersed, discovered behind 
it the army of Italy, returning completely stripped, with- 
out baggage and without cannon. 

Platoff had kept it besieged, as it were, all the way from 
Dorogobouje.^ Near that town Prince Eugene had quitted 
the high road, and, in order to proceed towards Witepsk, 
had taken that which, two months before, had brought him 
from Smolensk ; but the Wop, which, when he had crossed 
it before, was a mere brook, and had scarcely been noticed, 
he now found swollen into a river. It ran over a muddy 
bed, and was bounded by two steep banks. It was found 
necessary to cut a passage in these precipitous and frozen 
banks, and to give orders for the demolition of the neigh- 
boring houses during the night, for the purpose of building 
a bridge with the materials. But those who had taken 
shelter in them opposed their being destroyed ; and, as the 
viceroy was more beloved than feared, his instructions were 
not obeyed. The bridge-builders became disheartened, and 
when daylight, with the Cossacks, appeared, the bridge, 
after being twice broken down, was at last abandoned. 

Five or six thousand soldiers still in order, twice the 
number of disbanded men, the sick and wounded, upward 
of a hundred pieces of cannon, ammunition-wagons, and 
a multitude of vehicles of every kind, lined the bank and 
covered a league of ground. An attempt was made to 
ford the river through the floating ice which was carried 
along by its current. The first guns that were attempted 
to be got over reached the opposite bank ; but the water 
kept rising every moment, while at the same time the bed 

1 Dorogobouje : a town about fifty miles west of Viazma and nearly two 
hundred west of Moscow. It is situated on the river Wop, a branch of the 
Dnieper. 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 255 

of the stream at the place of passage was continually deep- 
ened by the wheels and by the efforts of the horses. One 
carriage stuck fast, others did the same, and at length the 
stoppage became general. 

Meanwhile the day was advancing; the men were ex- 
hausting themselves in vain efforts : hunger, cold, and the 
Cossacks became pressing, and the viceroy finally found 
himself compelled to order his artillery and all his baggage 
to be left behind. A distressing spectacle ensued. The 
owners were allowed scarcely a moment to part from their 
effects : while they were selecting from them such articles 
as they most needed, and loading their horses with them, 
a multitude of soldiers came rushing up : they fell in pref- 
erence upon the vehicles of luxury ; these they broke in 
pieces and rummaged every part, avenging their poverty 
on the wealth, and their privations on the superfluities 
they here found, and snatching them from the Cossacks, 
who were in the meantime looking on at a distance. 

But it was provisions of which most of them were in 
quest. They threw aside embroidered clothes, pictures, 
ornaments of every kind, and gilt bronzes for a few hand- 
fuls of flour. In the evening it was a strange sight to 
behold the mingled riches of Paris and of Moscow, the 
luxuries of two of the largest cities in the world, lying 
scattered and despised on the snow of the desert. 

At the same time, most of the artillery-men spiked their 
guns in despair, and scattered their powder about. Others 
laid a train with it as far as some ammunition-wagons, 
which had been left at a considerable distance behind our 
baggage. They waited till the most eager of the Cossacks 
had come up to them, and when a great number, greedy 
of plunder, had collected about them, they threw a brand 



256 XAFOLEOX'S 

from a bivouac upon the train. The fire ran, and in a 
moment reached its destination; the wagons were blown 
up, the shells exploded, and such of the Cossacks as were 
not killed on the spot dispersed in dismay. 

The army of Italy, thus completely dismantled, soaked 
in the waters of the Wop. without food, without shelter, 
passed the night on the snow near a village where its 
officers expected to find lodgings for themselves. Their 
soldiers, however, beset its wooden houses. They rushed 
like madmen, and in swarms, on every habitation, profit- 
ing by the darkness, which prevented them from recog- 
nizing their officers or being known by them. They tore 
down everything, doors, windows, and even the wood- 
work of the roofs, feeling but little compunction in com- 
pelling others, be they who they might, to bivouac like 
themselves. 

Their generals attempted in vain to drive them off : they 
took their blows without a murmur or the least opposition, 
but without desisting — even the men of the royal and 
imperial guards ; for, throughout the whole army, such 
were the scenes that occurred e\'ery night. The unfortu- 
nate fellows kept silentlv but actively at work on the 
wooden walls, which they pulled in pieces on every side 
at once, and which, after vain efforts, their officers were 
obliged to relinquish to them, for fear they would fall upon 
their own heads. It was an extraordinary mixture of per- 
severance in their design and of respect for the anger of 
their superiors. 

Having kindled good fires, they spent the night in dry- 
ing themselves, amid the shouts, imprecations, and groans 
of those who were still crossing the torrent, or who, slip- 
ping from its banks, were precipitated into it and drowned. 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOIV. 257 

§ 16. The Grand Army reaches Smolensk. 

At length the army once more came in sight of Smo- 
lensk : it had reached the goal so often announced to it of 
all its sufferings. The soldiers exultingly pointed it out 
to each other. There was that land of promise where their 
hunger was to find abundance, their fatigue rest ; where 
bivouacs in a cold of nineteen degrees would be forgotten 
in houses warmed by good fires. There thev would enjoy 
refreshing sleep ; there they might repair their apparel ; 
there they would be furnished with new shoes, and cloth- 
ing adapted to the climate. 

At this sight, the corps of picked men, the veteran regi- 
ments, and a few other soldiers alone kept their ranks ; 
the rest ran forward with all possible speed. Thousands 
of men, chiefly unarmed, covered the two steep banks of 
the Borysthenes : they crowded in masses around the 
lofty walls and gates of the city ; but this disorderly mul- 
titude, with their haggard faces begrimed with dirt and 
smoke, their tattered uniforms, and the grotesque habili- 
ments which they had substituted in place of them : in 
short, with their strange, hideous looks, and their impetu- 
ous ardor, excited alarm. It was believed, that if the 
irruption of this crowd, maddened with hunger, were not 
repelled, that a general pillage would be the consequence, 
and the gates were closed against it. 

It was also hoped that by exercising this rigor these 
men would be forced again to rally about their standards. 
A horrible struggle between order and disorder now com- 
menced in the remnant of this unfortunate armv. In vain 
did they entreat, weep, threaten, strive to burst open the 
gates, and even drop down dead at the feet of their com- 



258 NAPOLEON'S 

rades placed to repel them ; they found the latter inexora- 
ble, and were forced to wait the arrival of the first troops 
that were still officered and in order. 

These were the Old and the Young Guard ; and it was 
not til] after them that the disbanded men were allowed to 
enter : the latter, and the other corps which arrived in suc- 
cession, from the 8th to the 14th, believed that their admis- 
sion had been delayed merely to give more rest and more 
provisions to this favored guard. Their sufferings rendered 
them unjust : they execrated it. "Were they, then, to be 
forever sacrificed to this privileged class ; fellows kept for 
mere parade, who were never foremost but at reviews, 
festivals, and distributions ? Was the army to put up with 
their leavings, always to wait till they had glutted them- 
selves .'' " It was useless to tell them in reply, that to 
attempt to save all was the way to lose all ; that it was 
necessary to keep at least one corps entire, and to give the 
preference to that which in the last extremity would be 
capable of making the most powerful effort. 

At length these poor creatures were admitted into that 
Smolensk for which they had so long ardently wished, 
while the banks of the Borysthenes were strewed with 
their expiring companions, the weakest of whom impa- 
tience and several hours' waiting had brought to that 
state. Others, again, were left on the icy steep, which 
they had to climb to reach the upper town. The rest ran 
to the magazines, where many fell exhausted while they 
beset the doors ; for here also they were repulsed. " Who 
were they .? " it was asked. " To what corps did they 
belong } What had they to prove it } The persons ap- 
pointed to distribute the provisions were responsible for 
them : they had orders to deliver thern only to authorized 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 259 

officers bringing receipts, for which alone they could ex- 
change the rations committed to their care." These poor 
famished creatures had no officers, nor could they tell 
where their regiments were : two-thirds of the army were 
in this predicament. 

These miserable men then dispersed themselves through 
the streets, having no longer any hope but in pillage. 
But horses dissected to the very bones everywhere denoted 
a famine ; the doors and windows of the houses had been 
all broken and torn away to feed the fires of the bivouacs ; 
they found no shelter in them, no winter quarters pre- 
pared, no wood. The sick and wounded were left in the 
streets, in the carts which had brought them. It was 
again, it was always the same fatal high road, passing 
through a town which was but an empty name : it was 
a new bivouac among deceitful ruins, colder even than the 
forests they had just quitted. 

Then only did these disorganized troops seek their 
colors : they rejoined them for a moment in order to 
obtain food ; but all the bread that could be baked had 
been distributed ; and there was no biscuit, no butcher's 
meat. Rye flour, dry vegetables, and spirits were dealt 
out to them. It required the most strenuous efforts to 
prevent the detachments of the different corps from mur- 
dering each other at the doors of the magazines ; and 
when, after long formalities, their wretched fare was at 
last delivered to them, the soldiers refused to carry it to 
their regiments ; they fell upon their sacks, snatched out 
of them a few pounds of flour, and ran to secrete them- 
selves till they had devoured it. The same was the case 
with the spirits ; and the next day the houses were found 
full of the bodies of these miserable creatures. 



26o 



NAPOLEON'S 



In short, that Smolensk, which the army had looked 
forward to, as the term of their sufferings, marked, as it 
were, only their commencement. Inexpressible hardships 
still awaited us : we had yet to march forty days under 
that yoke of iron. Some, already borne down by present 
miseries, sank under the frightful prospect of those which 
were before them. Others sternly resolved to battle with 
their destiny ; and, finding they had nothing to rely on but 
themselves, they determined to live at all hazards. 

Thenceforward, according as they found themselves the 
•stronger or the weaker, by violence or stealth they plun- 
dered their companions of their subsistence, of their gar- 
ments, and of the gold with which they had filled their 
knapsacks instead of provisions. These wretches, whom 
despair had thus made robbers, then threw away their 
arms to save their infamous booty, profiting by the general 
confusion, an obscure name, a uniform no longer dis- 
tinguishable, and night : in short, by every kind of con- 
cealment favorable to cowardice and guilt. If works 
already published had not exaggerated these horrors, I 
should have passed over in silence such terrible details ; 
for atrocities so extreme were, after all, comparatively 
rare, and justice was dealt to the most criminal. 

On the 9th of November the emperor arrived amid this 
scene of desolation. He shut himself up in one of the 
houses in the new square, and never quitted it till the 14th 
to resume his retreat. He had calculated upon fifteen 
days' provisions and forage for an army of one hundred 
thousand men ; but there was not more than half this 
quantity of flour, rice, and spirits, and no meat at all. 
Cries of rage were now directed against the principal in- 
dividual appointed to provide these supplies ; and the 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOIV. 26 1 

commissary saved his life only by prostrating himself on 
his knees at the feet of Napoleon, and remaining in that 
posture for a long time. But the reasons which he assigned 
for his failure did more for him than his supplications. 

Many of these reasons were well founded. A chain of 
other magazines had been formed from Smolensk to Minsk 
and Wilna. These two towns were, in a still greater de- 
gree than Smolensk, centres of provisioning, of which the 
fortresses of the Vistula formed the first line. The total 
quantity of provisions, indeed, distributed over this space 
was incalculable ; the efforts for transporting them thither 
had been gigantic ; while the result was little better than 
nothing. Scattered over such a vast extent, immense as 
they were, they were found wholly insufficient. 

Thus great expeditions are crushed by their own weight. 
Human limits had been surpassed : the genius of Napo- 
leon, in attempting to soar above time, climate, and dis- 
tance, had, as it were, lost itself in space ; great as was its 
measure, it had gone beyond it. 

Napoleon had been at Smolensk for five days. It was 
known that Ney had received orders to arrive there as late 
as possible, and Eugene to halt for two days at a point 
near Smolensk. Then it was not the necessity of wait- 
ing for the army of Italy which detained him ! To what, 
then, must we attribute this delay, in the midst of famine, 
disease, and when the winter and three hostile armies were 
gradually surrounding us .-' 

The emperor no doubt fancied that by dating his de- 
spatches for five days from that city, he would give to his 
disorderly flight the appearance of a slow and glorious re- 
treat. In the same spirit, no doubt, he had ordered the 
destruction of the towers which surrounded Smolensk, 



262 NAPOLEOA"S 

from the wish, as he expressed it, of not being again 
stopped short by its walls ! as if there were any idea of 
our returning to a place which we were not even sure that 
we should ever get out of. 

The emperor, however, made an effort that was not 
altogether fruitless. This was to rally under one com- 
mander all that remained of the cavalry ; when it was 
found that of this force, thirty-seven thousand strong at 
the passage of the Niemen, there now remained only eight 
hundred men on horseback. He gave the command of 
these to Latour-Maubourg ; and, whether from the esteem 
felt for him, or from the general indifference, no one 
objected to it. 

This army, which left Moscow one hundred thousand 
strong, in five-and-twenty days had been reduced to thirty- 
six thousand men, while the artillery had lost three hun- 
dred and fifty of their cannon ; and yet these feeble remains 
continued as before to be divided into eight armies, which 
were encumbered with sixty thousand unarmed stragglers, 
and a long train of cannon and baggage. 

Whether it was the encumbrance of so many men and 
carriages, or a mistaken sense of security, which led the 
emperor to order a day's interval between the departure 
of each marshal, is uncertain ; but most probably it was 
the latter. Be that, however, as it may, he, Eugene, 
Davoust, and Ney, quitted Smolensk in succession ; and 
Ney was not to leave it till the i6th or 17th. He had 
orders to make the artillery dismount the cannon left 
behind, and bury them ; to destroy the ammunition, to 
drive all the stragglers before him, and to blow up the 
towers which surrounded the city. 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 263 

Kutusoff, meanwhile, was waiting for us at some leagues' 
distance, prepared to cut in pieces, one after the other, 
those remnants of corps thus extended and parcelled out. 

§ 17. Napoleon leaves Smolensk; battle of Krasnoe. 

It was on the 14th of November, about five in the 
morning, that the imperial column at last quitted Smo- 
lensk. Its march was still firm, but gloomy and silent 
as night, like the mute and sombre aspect of the country 
through which it was advancing. 

This stillness was only interrupted by the cracking of 
the whips applied to the horses, and by short and violent 
imprecations when they met with ravines, and when down 
these icy declivities, men, horses, and artillery were rolling 
in the darkness one over the other. The first day they 
advanced five leagues, and the artillery of the guard took 
twenty-two hours to get over that distance. 

Kutusoff, at the same time, with the bulk of his army, 
moved forward, and took a position in the rear of these 
advanced corps, within reach of them all, felicitating him- 
self on the success of his mancjeuvres, which, after all, 
would inevitably have failed, owing to his tardiness, had 
it not been for our want of foresight ; for this was a con- 
test of errors, in which, ours being the greatest, we nar- 
rowly escaped total destruction. Having made these dis- 
positions, the Russian commander must have believed 
that the French army was entirely in his power ; but this 
belief saved us. Kutusoff was wanting to himself at the 
moment of action ; his old age executed only half, and 
that badly, the plans which it had wisely combined. 

During: the time that all these masses were arranc-ine: 



264 NAPOLEON'S 

themselves round Napoleon, he remained perfectly tran- 
quil in a miserable hut, the only one left standing in 
Korythnia, apparently quite unconscious of all these move- 
ments of infantry, artiller)^, and cavalry, which were sur- 
rounding him in all directions ; at least he sent no orders 
to the three corps which had halted at Smolensk, to expe- 
dite their march, and he himself waited for daylight to 
proceed. 

His column was advancing without precaution, preceded 
by a crowd of stragglers, all eager to reach Krasnoe, when, 
at two leagues from that place, a line of Cossacks, extend- 
ing from the heights on our left across the great road, 
appeared before them. Seized with astonishment, these 
stragglers instantly halted : they had looked for nothing 
of the kind, and with their first impressions were led to 
believe that relentless fate had traced upon the snow 
between them and Europe thai long, black, and motionless 
line as the fatal term assigned to their hopes. 

Suddenly a Russian battery began firing. Their balls 
crossed the road. The German corps became confused 
and made no attempt to meet this attack. But a wounded 
officer who chanced to be there assumed the command of 
the Germans, and the men obeyed him as if he had been 
their rightful leader. On seeing this advanced column of 
Germans march forward in such good order, the enemy 
confined himself to attacking it with his artillery, which 
it disregarded and soon left behind. When it came to 
the turn of the Old Guard to pass through this fire, they 
closed their ranks around Napoleon like a movable fortress, 
proud of the honor of protecting him. Their band of 
music expressed their satisfaction. When the danger was 
greatest, it played the well-known air, " Where can 07ie be 



RETREAT EROM MOSCOW. 265 

Jiappier tluDi in the bosom of his family f But the em- 
peror, whom nothing escaped, stopped them with the 
exclamation, " Rather play, 'Let us ivatcJi for tJie safety of 
the empire !''' words much better suited to the feelings 
which then occupied him, and to the general condition 
of affairs. 

At the same time, the enemy's fire becoming trouble- 
some, he gave orders to silence it, and in two hours he 
reached Krasnoe. 

On the 17th, before daylight, Napoleon issued his orders, 
armed himself, and going out on foot at the head of his 
Old Guard, began his march. But it was not towards 
Poland, his ally, that he directed it, nor towards France, 
where he would still be received as the head of a new 
dynasty, and the Emperor of the West. His words on 
grasping his sword on this occasion were, " I have suffi- 
ciently acted the emperor ; it is time I should become 
the general." He turned back upon eighty thousand of 
the enemy, plunging into the thickest of them, in order to 
draw all their efforts against himself, to make a diversion 
in favor of Davoust and Ney, and to rescue them from a 
country, the gates of which were closed against them. 

Daylight at last appeared, exhibiting on the one part 
the Russian battalions and batteries, which on three sides, 
in front, on our right, and in our rear, bounded the horizon, 
and on the other Napoleon, with his six thousand guards, 
advancing with a firm step, and proceeding to take his 
place in the centre of that terrible circle. At the same 
time, Mortier, a few yards in front of the emperor, de- 
ployed, ^ in the face of the whole Russian army, with the 
five thousand men still remaining to him, 

1 Deployed : formed a more extended front or line. 



266 ^'.4POL£o^'^s 

Here, then, it was made evident that renown is some- 
thing more than a vain shadow, that it is real strength, 
and doubly powerful from the inflexible pride which it 
imparts to its favorites, and the timid precautions it im- 
poses on those who venture to attack it. The enemy 
had only to march forward without manceuvring. or even 
firing ; their mass alone was sufficient to crush Napoleon 
with all his feeble battalions ; still they did not dare come 
to close quarters with him. They were awed at the pres- 
ence of the conqueror of Egypt and of Europe. The 
Pyramids, Marengo, Austerlitz, Friedland, a host of victo- 
ries seemed to rise between him and the astounded Rus- 
sians. INIight we not also fancy that, in the eyes of that 
passive and superstitious people, a renown so extraordinary 
appeared like something supernatural } that they regarded 
it as whollv bevond their power, or, at least, believed that 
they could safelv assail it only from a distance ? and, in 
short, that against that Old Guard, that living fortress, 
that column of granite, as it had been called by its leader, 
human efforts were impotent, or that cannon alone could 
demolish it ? 

But every moment strengthened the enemy and weak- 
ened Napoleon. The noise of artillery, as well as Clapa- 
rede, apprised him that in the rear of Krasnoe and his 
army Beningsen was proceeding to take possession of the 
road to Liady, and entirely cut off his retreat. The east, 
the west, and the south were flashing with the enemy's 
fires ; one side alone remained open, that of the north and 
the Dnieper, towards an eminence, at the foot of which 
were the high road and the emperor. We fancied we saw 
the enemy already covering this eminence with his cannon. 
In that situation thev would have been just over Napoleon's 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 26/ 

head, and might have crushed him at a few yards' distance. 
He was apprised of his danger, cast his eyes for an instant 
towards the height, and uttered merely these words, " Very 
well, let one of my battalions take possession of it." Imme- 
diately afterward, without giving farther heed to it, his 
whole attention was directed to the perilous situation of 
Mortier. 

Fortunately, some troops which Davoust had rallied and 
the appearance of another troop of his stragglers, attracted 
the enemy's attention. Mortier availed himself of it. He 
gave orders to the three thousand men he had still remain- 
ing to retreat slowly in the face of their fifty thousand 
enemies, "Do you hear, soldiers.?" cried General La- 
borde, "the marshal orders ordinary time ! Ordinary time, 
soldiers ! " And this brave and unfortunate troop, drag- 
ging with them some of their wounded, under a shower 
of balls and grape-shot, retired as deliberately from this 
field of carnage as they would have done from a field of 
manoeuvre. 

§ 18. Napoleon reaches Dombro"wrna and Orcha ; he holds a 
council. 

As soon as Mortier had succeeded in placing Krasnoe 
between him and Beningsen, he was in safety. 

The next day the march was resumed, though with 
reluctance. The impatient stragglers took the lead, and 
all of them got the start of Napoleon : he was on foot 
with a stick in his hand, walking slowly and hesitatingly, 
and halting every quarter of an hour, as if unwilling to 
tear himself away from that old Russia, whose frontier he 
was then passing, and in which he had left his unfortunate 
companions in arms. 



205 NAPOLEON'S 

In the evening he reached Dombrowna,^ a wooden town, 
and inhabited as well as Liady : a novel sight for an army, 
which had for three months seen nothing but ruins. At 
last, then, we had emerged from Russia proper, and her 
deserts of snow and ashes, and were entering into a 
friendly and inhabited country, whose language we under- 
stood. The weather just then became milder, a thaw 
began, and we received some provisions. 

Thus the winter, the enemy, solitude, and, with some, 
famine and bivouacs, all ceased at once ; but it was too late. 
The emperor saw that his army was destroyed : every 
moment the name of Ney escaped from his lips, with ex- 
pressions of the deepest grief. That night he was heard 
groaning and exclaiming " that the misery of his poor 
soldiers cut him to the heart, and yet that he could not 
succor them without establishing himself in some place : 
but where was it possible for him to stop without ammuni- 
tion, provisions, or artillery .■* He was no longer strong 
enough to halt : he must reach Minsk as quickly as pos- 
sible." 

He had scarcely spoken the words, when a Polish ofificer 
arrived with the news that Minsk itself, his magazine, his 
retreat, his only hope, had just fallen into the hands of the 
Russians, Tchitchakoff having entered it on the i6th. 
Napoleon at first was mute, and completely overpowered 
by this last blow ; but immediately afterward, elevating 
himself in proportion to his danger, he coolly replied, 
"Very well ! we have now nothing to do but to clear our- 
selves a passage with our bayonets." 

Napoleon then turned to bis Old Guard, and, stopping in 

1 Dombrowna : a town about fifty miles west of Smolensk and two hun- 
dred from Moscow. 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 269 

front of each battalion, " Grenadiers ! " ^ said he, to them, 
" we are retreating without being conquered by the enemy ; 
let us not be vanquished by ourselves ! Set an example to 
the army. Several of you have already deserted your 
colors, and even thrown away your arms. I have no wish 
to have recourse to military laws to put a stop to this 
disorder, but appeal entirely to your sense of duty. Do 
justice to yourselves. To your own honor I commit the 
maintenance of your discipline ! " 

The other troops he addressed in a similar style. These 
few words were quite sufficient to the old grenadiers, who 
probably had no occasion for them. The others received 
them with acclamations ; but an hour afterward, when the 
march was resumed, they were entirely forgotten. As to 
his rear guard, throwing the blame of this wild alarm 
mostly upon it, he sent an angry message to Davoust on 
the subject. 

At Orcha we found rather an abundant supply of provis- 
ions, a bridge equipage of sixty boats, with all its appur- 
tenances, which we burned, and thirty-six pieces of cannon, 
with their horses, which were distributed between Davoust, 
Eugene, and Latour-Maubourg. 

Napoleon entered Orcha with six thousand guards, the 
remains of thirty-five thousand ! Eugene, with eighteen 
hundred soldiers, the remains of forty-two thousand ! and 
Davoust, with four thousand, the remains of seventy thou- 
sand ! 

This marshal had lost everything, was actually without 
linen, and emaciated with hunger. He seized upon a loaf, 

1 Grenadiers : these were men of long service and acknowledged bravery. 
Originally these soldiers threw hand grenades or small explosive shells. When 
these grenades went out of use the name grenadiers was sliU retained. 



270 NAPOLEON'S 

which was offered him by one of his comrades, and vora- 
ciously devoured it. A handkerchief was given him to 
wipe his face, which was white with frost. He exclaimed 
" that none but men with constitutions of iron could sup- 
port such trials ; that it was physically impossible to resist 
them ; that there were limits to human strength, the ut- 
most of which had been exceeded." 

The emperor made fruitless efforts to check this general 
despondency. When alone, he was heard compassionating 
the sufferings of his soldiers ; but in their presence, even 
upon that point, he wished to appear inflexible. He issued 
a proclamation, " ordering all who had deserted their ranks 
to return to them : if they did not, he would strip the 
officers of their commissions, and the soldiers should be 
shot." 

A threat like this produced no impression whatever upon 
men who had become insensible, or were reduced to de- 
spair, fleeing not from danger, but from suffering, and 
caring as little for the death with which they were men- 
aced as for the life that was offered them. 

But Napoleon's confidence increased with his perils : in 
his eyes, this handful of men, in these deserts of snow and 
ice, was still the Grand Army ! and himself the conqueror 
of Europe ! nor was there any affectation in this firmness : 
we were certain of it, when in this very town, we saw him 
burn, with his own hands, everything belonging to him 
that might serve as a trophy to the enemy, in the event of 
his fall. 

But everything was now changed : two hostile armies 
were opposing his retreat ; and the question to be de- 
cided was, through which of them he should cut his way. 
As he knew nothing of the Lithuanian forests into which 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 2/1 

he was about penetrating, he summoned such of his offi- 
cers as had been through them, in order to obtain informa- 
tion. 

The emperor began by remarking that " too great famil- 
iarity with victory was often the precursor of great disas- 
ters, but that recrimination was now out of the question." 
He then mentioned the capture of Minsk, and, admitting 
the skilfulness of Kutusoff's persevering manoeuvres on the 
right flank, he said that " it was his intentipn to abandon 
his line of operations on Minsk, unite with the Dukes of 
Belluno and Reggio, cut his way through Wittgenstein's 
army, and regain Wilna by turning the sources of the 
Berezina." Jomini combated this plan. 

Finally Napoleon decided ujDon Borizoff.^ But he said, 
" that it was cruel to retreat without fighting, to present 
the appearance of flight. Had he only a magazine, some 
point of support which would allow him to halt, he would 
prove to Europe that he still knew how to fight and how 
to conquer." 

All these were mere illusions. At Smolensk, where he 
arrived first, and from which he was the first to depart, he 
had rather been informed of his disasters than witnessed 
them himself. At Krasnoe, where our miseries had been 
more fully unfolded before him, the peril by which we 
were surrounded had diverted his attention from them ; 
but at Orcha he could contemplate, at one view and lei- 
surely, the whole extent of his misfortunes. 

At Smolensk, thirty-six thousand combatants, one hun- 
dred and fifty cannon, the army-chest, and the hope of life, 
and of breathing at liberty on the other side of the Bere- 

1 Borizoff : a town on the Berezina River, about 320 miles southwest of 
Moscow, and about 75 west of Orcha. 



2/2 NAPOLEON'S 

7h\.2i, Still remained; here' there were scarcely ten thousand 
soldiers, almost without clothing or shoes, entangled amid 
a crowd of dying men, with but a few cannon, and a plun- 
dered army-chest. 

§ 19. Arrival of Marshal Ney. 

Being at length, on the 20th of November, compelled 
to quit Orcha, he left there Eugene, Mortier, and Davoust, 
and halted after a march of six miles from that place, still 
inquiring for Marshal Ney, who was advancing by a dif- 
ferent route, and still expecting him. The same feeling of 
grief pervaded the portion of the army remaining at Orcha. 
As soon as the most pressing wants allowed a moment's 
rest, the thoughts and looks of every one were directed 
towards the Russian bank. They listened for any warlike 
sounds which might announce the arrival of Ney, or, rather, 
his last desperate struggle with the foe ; but nothing was 
to be seen but parties of the enemy, who were already 
menacing the bridges of the Borysthenes. 

After exhausting all their conjectures, they had relapsed 
into a gloomy silence, when suddenly they heard the steps 
of horses, and then the joyful cry, "Marshal Ney is safe ! 
here are some Polish cavalry come to announce his 
approach ! " One of his officers now galloped in, and 
informed them that the marshal was advancing on the 
right bank of the Borysthenes, and had sent him to ask 
for assistance. 

When the two corps, Eugene's and Ney's, fairly recog- 
nized each other, they could no longer be kept in their 
ranks. Soldiers, officers, generals, all rushed forward 
together. The soldiers of Eugene, eagerly grasping the 
hands of those of Ney, held them with a joyful mixture of 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 2/3 

astonishment and curiosity, and embraced them with the 
tenderest sympathy. They lavished upon them the re- 
freshments and brandy which they had just received, and 
overwhelmed them with questions. Then they proceeded 
in company towards Orcha, all burning with impatience, 
Eugene's soldiers to hear, and Ney's to relate, their story. 

The officers of Ney stated that on the 17th of November 
they had quitted Smolensk with twelve cannon, six thou- 
sand infantry, and three hundred cavalry, leaving there 
five thousand sick to the mercy of the enemy ; and that, 
had it not been for the noise of Platoff's artillery and the 
explosion of the mines, their marshal would never have 
been able to draw from the ruins of that city seven thou- 
sand unarmed stragglers who had taken shelter among 
them. They dwelt upon the attentions which their leader 
had shown to the wounded, and to the women and their 
children, proving upon this occasion that the bravest are 
also the most humane. 

At the gates of the city an unnatural action struck them 
with a horror that they still felt in all its force. A mother 
abandoned her little son, only five years old : in spite of 
his cries and tears, she drove him away from her sledge, 
which was too heavily laden. She exclaimed, at the 
same time, with a distracted air, that '^ Jie had never seen 
France ! Jie would not regret it ! but slic knew France ! 
she was resolved to see France once more ! " Twice did 
Ney himself replace the unfortunate child in the arms of 
his mother, and twice did she cast him from her on the 
frozen snow. 

This solitary crime, amid a thousand instances of the 
most devoted and sublime tenderness, they did not leave 
unpunished. The unnatural parent was herself abandoned 



2/4 NAPOLEON'S 

to the snow from which her infant was snatched, and 
intrusted to another mother : this httle orphan was then 
in their ranks ; he was afterward seen at the Berezina, 
then at Wihia, again at Kowno, and finally escaped from 
all the horrors of the retreat. 

Frustrated in his plans Ney instead of advancing to join 
Napoleon was compelled to order his men to return towards 
Smolensk. At these words they were struck motionless 
with astonishment. Even his aid-de-camp could not be- 
lieve his ears : he remained silent, like one who does not 
comprehend what he hears, and looked at his general in 
amazement. But the marshal briefly repeating the same 
order in a still more imperative tone, they were no longer 
at any loss, but all recognized in it resolution taken, a 
resource discovered, that self-confidence which inspires 
others with the same feeling, and a spirit which rises 
superior to its situation, however perilous it may be. 
They instantly obeyed, and, without the slightest hesi- 
tation, turned their backs on their own army, on the 
emperor, and on France. Once more they returned into 
that fatal Russia. Their retrograde march had lasted an 
hour : again they came to the field of battle marked by the 
remains of the army of Italy ; there they halted, and the 
marshal, who had remained with the rear guard, then 
joined them. 

Their eyes followed all his movements. What did he 
intend doing } and, whatever might be his plan, where 
would he direct his steps, without a guide, in an unknown 
country .-* But, while they were thus perplexing them- 
selves, he, with his warlike instinct, had halted on the 
edge of a ravine of such depth as to make it evident that 
there was a stream at the bottom of it. By clearing away 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 275 

the snow and breaking the ice, this fact was soon estab- 
Hshed : and then, consulting his map, he exclaimed, "This 
is one of the streams which flow into the Dnieper : this 
must be our guide, and we must follow it ; it will lead us 
to that river, which we must cross, and on the other side 
we shall be safe." Accordingly, he immediately proceeded 
in that direction. 

A lame peasant was the only inhabitant they could dis- 
cover ; but even this was an unlooked-for piece of good 
fortune. He told them that they were within the distance 
of a league from the Dnieper, but that it was not fordable 
there, and could not yet be frozen over. " It must be so," 
the marshal remarked ; but when he was reminded that a 
thaw had just commenced, he added, "it does not signify; 
we must pass, as there is no other resource." 

At last at about eight o'clock, after passing through a vil- 
lage, they soon came to the termination of the ravine, and 
the Russian, who walked before, halted and pointed out to 
them the river. 

Finally, about midnight, the passage began ; but the first 
persons who ventured on the ice called out that it was 
bending under them, that it was sinking, that they were 
up to their knees in water ; and immediately after that 
frail support was heard cracking and splitting, as in the 
breaking up of a frost. All halted in consternation. 

Ney ordered them to pass only one at a time : they pro- 
ceeded with caution, not knowing sometimes in the dark 
whether they were placing their feet on the ice or into 
a chasm ; for there were places where they were obliged 
to clear large fissures, and jump from one piece to another, 
at the risk of falling between them and disappearing for- 
ever. The first hesitated, but those who were behind kept 
calling to them to make more haste. 



2^6 NAPOLEON'S 

When at last, after several of these dreadful panics, they 
reached the opposite bank and fancied themselves safe, a 
perpendicular steep, slippery as glass, opposed their land- 
ing, and many were again thrown back upon the ice, either 
bruised by it, or breaking it in their fall. It would seem, 
indeed, as though this Russian river and its banks had 
contributed with regret, by surprise, and by compulsion, as 
it were, to their escape. 

But what they spoke of as being the most painful of all, 
were the trouble and distraction of the females and of the 
sick, when it became necessary for them to abandon, along 
with the baggage, the remains of their fortune, their pro- 
visions, and, in short, all their resources both for the pres- 
ent and the future. They were seen stripping themselves, 
selecting, throwing away, taking up again, and falling at 
length through exhaustion and grief upon the frozen bank 
of the river. The narrators appeared to shudder again at 
the recollection of the horrible sight of so many men 
scattered over that abyss, of the continual noise of persons 
falling, of the cries of such as sank in, and, above all, of 
the wailing and despair of the wounded, who, from their 
carts, which could not be trusted to this weak support, 
stretched out their hands to their companions, and en- 
treated them not to leave them behind. 

Their leader at length determined to attempt the pas- 
sage of several wagons, loaded with these poor creatures ; 
but in the middle of the stream the ice sank down and 
separated. Then were heard proceeding from the gulf, 
first cries of anguish long and piercing, then stifled and 
feeble groans, quickly succeeded by an awful silence. All 
had disappeared ! 

But at length Ney had succeeded in reaching Orcha ; 
from this time forward he was the hero of the retreat. 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 2/7 

When Napoleon, who was two leagues farther on, heard 
that Ney had again made his appearance, he leaped and 
shouted for joy, exclaiming, "Then I have saved my 
honor ! I would have given three hundred millions from 
my exchequer sooner than have lost such a man." 

§ 20. Capture of Minsk by the Russians. 

The army had thus for the third and last time repassed 
the Dnieper, a river half Russian and half Polish, but hav- 
ing its source in Russia. It runs from east to west as far 
as Orcha, where it appears as if it would penetrate into 
Poland ; but there the high lands of Lithuania oppose its 
farther progress, and compel it to turn abruptly towards 
the south, and to become the frontier of the two countries. 

Kutusoff and his eighty thousand Russians halted before 
this feeble obstacle. Hitherto they had been rather the 
spectators than the authors of our calamities ; but from 
this time we saw them no more, and were at last delivered 
from the punishment of their joy. 

On the 22d of November the army had a disagreeable 
march from Orcha to Borizoff, on a wide road skirted by a 
double row of large birch-trees, the snow having melted, 
and the mud being very deep. The weakest here found 
their graves ; and those of our wounded who, in expecta- 
tion of a continuance of the frost, had exchanged their 
wagons for sleighs, were left behind, and fell into the 
hands of the Cossacks. 

It was during the early part of the march to Borizoff 
that the news of the fall of Minsk ^ became generally 

1 Minsk : a town on a tributary of the Berezina River, about 400 miles 
southwest of Moscow. Here Napoleon had immense stores of provisions, 
clothing, and ammunition. He was pushing forward to reach this place. 



2/8 NAPOLEON'S 

known in the army. The leaders themselves now began 
to look around them with consternation ; and, after wit- 
nessing such a succession of frightful spectacles their 
imagination depicted a still more fatal futurity. In their 
private conversation they did not hesitate to say that, 
"like Charles XII. in Russia, Napoleon had carried his 
army to Moscow only to destroy it." 

Deploring, then, the rash obstinacy of the stay at Mos- 
cow, and the fatal hesitation at Malo-jaroslavetz, they pro- 
ceeded to reckon up their losses. Since their departure 
from Moscow they had lost all their baggage, five hun- 
dred cannon, thirty-one standards, twenty-seven generals, 
forty thousand prisoners, and sixty thousand dead : all 
that remained were forty thousand unarmed stragglers 
and eight thousand effective soldiers. 

With respect to the loss of Minsk the governor of that 
place had been negligently chosen. He was, it was said, 
one of those men who undertake everything, who promise 
everything, and who do nothing. On the i6th of Novem- 
ber he lost that capital, and with it four thousand seven 
hundred sick, the warlike stores, and two million rations 
of provisions. It was five days since the news of this loss 
had reached Dombrowna, and the news of a still greater 
calamity came on the heels of it. 

This same governor had retreated towards Borizoff. 
There he neglected to inform Oudinot, who was only at 
the distance of two marches, to come to his assistance ; 
and failed to support Dombrowski, who made a hasty 
march thither : the result was that the latter was over- 
powered by the fire of the Russian artillery, which took 
him in flank, and, attacked by a force more than double his 
own, he was driven across the river, and out of the town as 
far as the Moscow road. 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 2^9 

This disaster was wholly unexpected by Napoleon. 
Finally, when the emperor learned at Dombrowna the loss 
of Minsk, he had no suspicion that Borizoff was in such 
imminent danger, as when he passed the next day through 
Orcha he had the whole of his bridge-equipage burned. 

It was on the day immediately subsequent to that fatal 
catastrophe, at the distance of three marches from Borizoff, 
and upon the high road, that an officer arrived and an- 
nounced to Napoleon this fresh disaster. The emperor, 
striking the ground with his stick, and casting a furious 
look to heaven, pronounced these words : " Is it, then, 
written above that we shall now commit nothing but 
faults.?" 

Meanwhile Marshal Oudinot, who was already marching 
towards Minsk, totally ignorant of what had happened, 
halted on the 21st. In the middle of the night General 
Brownkowski arrived to announce to him his own defeat, 
as well as that of General Dombrowski ; ^ that Borizoff was 
taken, and that the Russians were following close at his 
heels. 

In fact, every disaster which Napoleon could anticipate 
had occurred ; the melancholy conformity, therefore, of his 
situation with that of the Swedish conqueror, threw his 
mind into such a state of agitation that his health became 
still more seriously affected than it had been at Malo- 
jaroslavetz. Among the expressions he made use of, loud 
enough to be overheard, was this : " See what happens 
when we heap faults on faults ! " 

His orders, however, displayed decision. Oudinot had 
just sent to inform him of his determination to overthrow 
Lambert : this he approved of, and he also urged him to 
make himself master of a passage across the Berezina, either 

^ Polish generals in Napoleon's Grand Army. 



28o NAFOLEON'S 

above or below Borizoff. He was desirous that by the 
24th the place for this passage should be fixed on and the 
preparations begun, and that he should be apprised of it, 
in order to make his march correspond. Far from think- 
ing of making his escape through the midst of these three 
hostile armies, his only idea now was to beat Tchitchakoff 
and retake Minsk. 

It is true that, eight hours afterward, in a second letter 
to the Duke of Reggio, he resigned himself to crossing the 
Berezina near Veselowo, and by retreating directly upon 
Wilna, by Vileika, to avoid the Russian admiral. 

But on the 24th he learned that the passage could only 
be attempted near Studzianka ; that at that spot the river 
was only fifty-four fathoms wide, and six feet deep; and 
that they would land on the opposite side in a marsh, 
under the fire of a commanding position strongly occupied 
by the enemy. 

§ 21. March through the forest of Minsk; passage of the 
Berezina. 

All hope of passing between the Russian armies was 
thus lost : driven by the armies of Kutusoff and Wittgen- 
stein upon the Berezina, there was no alternative but to 
cross that river in the teeth of the army of Tchitchakoff, 
which lined its banks. 

After having made his preparations. Napoleon plunged 
into the gloomy and immense forest of Minsk, in which 
there was only here and there an open spot surrounding 
some wretched hamlet or single habitation. The noise 
of Wittgenstein's artillery filled it with its echoes. The 
Russian general came rushing from the north upan the 
right flank of our expiring column, and he brought back 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 28 1 

with him the winter which had quitted us at the same 
time with Kutusoff. The news of his threatening march 
accelerated our steps, and our motley array of from forty to 
fifty thousand men, women, and children hurried through 
the forest as rapidly as their weakness and the slipperiness 
of the ground, from the frost again setting in, would allow. 

These forced marches, commenced before daylight, and 
not terminating until after its close, dispersed all who had 
previously been together. They lost themselves in the 
double darkness of the forest and of the night. They 
halted in the evening, and resumed their march in the 
morning, in obscurity, at random, and without hearing the 
signal : the dissolution of the remains of the corps was 
now completed ; all were mixed and confounded together. 

In this last stage of helplessness and confusion, as we 
were approaching Borizoff, we "heard loud cries before us. 
Some rushed forward, fancying it was an attack. It was 
Victor's army, which had been feebly driven back by 
Wittgenstein to the right side of our road, where it re- 
mained waiting for us. Still, quite complete and full of 
animation, it received the emperor, as soon as he made his 
appearance, with the customary but now long-forgotten 
acclamations. 

Of our disasters it had heard nothing : they had been 
carefully concealed even from its leaders. When, there-^ 
fore, instead of that grand column which had conquered 
Moscow, its soldiers perceived behind Napoleon only a 
train of spectres covered with tattered vestments of every 
kind, women's pelisses, pieces of carpet, or dirty cloaks, half 
burned and riddled by the fires, and with nothing but rags 
on their feet, their consternation was extreme. They 
seemed terrified at the sight of those unfortunate soldiers, 



282 NAPOLEON'S 

as they defiled before them, with emaciated frames, faces 
black with dirt, and hideous bristly beards, unarmed, 
shameless, marching confusedly, with their heads bent, 
and their eyes fixed on the ground and silent, like a troop 
of captives. 

But what astonished them more than all was to see the 
number of generals and officers of every grade, scattered 
about and insulated, seemingly only occupied about them- 
selves, and thinking of nothing but to save the wrecks of 
their property or their persons : they were marching pell- 
mell with the soldiers, who did not notice them, to whom 
they had no longer any commands to give, and of whom 
they had nothing to expect, all ties between them being 
dissolved, and all distinctions of rank obliterated by the 
common misery. 

It was, indeed, merely the shadow of an army, but it 
was the shadow of the Grand Army. It felt conscious 
that nature alone had vanquished it. The presence of 
Napoleon animated it. To him it had long been accus- 
tomed to look, not for its means of support, but to lead it 
to victory. This was its first unfortunate campaign, and 
it had had so many fortunate ones : it only required to be 
able 10 follow him. He alone who had elevated his soldiers 
so high, and now sunk them so low, was yet able to save 
them. He was still, therefore, cherished in the heart of 
his army, like hope in the heart of man. 

Thus, amid so many beings who might have reproached 
him with their misfortunes, he marched on without the 
least fear, speaking to one and all without affectation, cer- 
tain of being respected as long as glory could command 
respect. Knowing perfectly that he belonged to us as 
much as we to him, his renown being, as it were, common 



RE TREA T PR OM MO SCO W. 283 

national property, we should have sooner turned our arms 
against ourselves (which was the case with many), as being 
a minor suicide, than against him. 

Some of the men fell and died at his feet ; and, though 
they were in the most frightful delirium, their sufferings 
never gave its wanderings the turn of reproach, but of 
entreaty. And in fact, did not he share the common 
danger ? Who of them all risked so much as he ? Who 
had suffered the greatest loss in this disaster ? 

If any imprecations were ever uttered, it was not in his 
presence ; for it seemed that, of all misfortunes, that of 
incurring his displeasure was still the greatest : so rooted 
was their confidence in, and their submission to, that man 
who had subjected the world to them ; whose genius, hith- 
erto uniformly victorious and invincible, had assumed the 
place of their free-will ; and who, having had so long in his 
hands the book of pensions, of rank, and of history, had 
found wherewithal to satisfy not only covetous spirits, but 
also every generous heart. 

At the close of the night of the 25th of November, Na- 
poleon made them sink the first trestle in the muddy bed 
of the Berezina River. But to crown our misfortunes, the 
rising of the waters had made the traces of the ford en- 
tirely disappear. It required the most incredible efforts 
on the part of our unfortunate engineers, who were plunged 
in the water up to their mouths, and had to contend with 
the floating pieces of ice which were carried along by the 
stream. Many of them perished from the cold, or were 
drowned by the cakes of ice being violently driven against 
them by the current and wind. 

On the 27th, Napoleon, with about five thousand guards, 
and Ney's corps, now reduced to six hundred men, crossed 



284 NAPOLEON'S 

the Berezina about two o'clock in the afternoon : he posted 
himself in reserve to Oudinot, and secured the outlet from 
the bridges against the efforts of the Russians. 

He had been preceded by a crowd of baggage and strag- 
glers, and numbers of them continued to cross the river 
after him as long as daylight lasted. 

But Partouneaux with his division was not so fortunate. 
At every point where he attempted to pass, he encountered 
the enemy's fires, and was obliged to turn back : in this 
way he wandered about for several hours altogether at 
random, in plains covered with snow, in the midst of a 
violent tempest. At every step he saw his soldiers pierced 
through by the cold, and exhausted with hunger and 
fatigue, falling half dead into the hands of the Russian 
cavalry, who pursued him without intermission. 

This unfortunate general was still struggling with the 
heavens, with men, and with his own despair, when he felt 
even the ground giving way under his feet. In fact, de- 
ceived by the snow, he was marching upon a lake, which 
not being frozen sufficiently hard to bear him, he had 
fallen in and was on the point of being drowned, and then 
only did he yield and give up his arms. 

While this catastrophe was accomplishing, his other 
three brigades, being more and more hemmed in upon the 
road, lost all power of movement. They delayed their 
surrender, however, till the next morning, first by fighting, 
and then by parleying : at length they all fell, one after 
the other, and a common misfortune again united them 
with their general. 

Of the whole division, a single battalion only escaped. 

During the whole of that day, the 28th, the situation of 
the ninth corps under General Victor, was so much the 



RETREAT EROM MO SCO IV. 285 

more critical, as a weak and narrow bridge was its only- 
means of retreat ; in addition to which its avenues were 
obstructed by the baggage and the stragglers. By de- 
grees, as the action became warmer, the terror of these 
poor wretches increased their disorder. First of all they 
had been alarmed by the rumors of a serious engagement ; 
then their terror was increased by seeing the wounded 
returning from it ; and, last of all, they were thrown into 
the utmost consternation by the batteries of the Russian 
left wing, some shot from which began to fall among them. 

They had been already crowding one upon the other, 
and the immense multitude heaped upon the bank pell-mell 
with the horses and carriages, formed there a most alarm- 
ing encumbrance. It was about the middle of the day 
that the first Russian balls fell into the midst of this 
chaos, and they were the signal of universal despair. 

Then it was, as in all cases of extremity, that the real 
dispositions of men exhibited themselves without disguise, 
and actions were witnessed, some of them the most base, 
and others the most noble and even sublime. In accord- 
ance with their character, some furious and determined, 
with sword in hand, cleared for themselves a horrible 
passage. Others, still more cruel, opened a way for their 
wagons by driving them without mercy over the crowds 
of unfortunate persons who stood in their way, and crushed 
them to death. Their detestable avarice made them sacri- 
fice their companions in misfortune to the preservation of 
their baggage. Others again, seized with a pusillanimous 
terror, wept, supplicated, and sank under the influence of a 
passion which completed the exhaustion of their strength. 
Some were observed (and these were principally the sick 
and wounded) who, renouncing life, went aside, and, re- 



2m NAPOLEON'S 

signed to their fate, sat themselves down, gazing with a 
fixed and motionless eye on the snow which was shortly 
to be their winding-sheet. 

Numbers of those who started first among this crowd of 
desperadoes, missing the bridge, attempted to scale it by 
the sides, but the greater part were pushed into the river. 
There were seen women in the midst of the stream and 
among the masses of floating ice, with their children. in 
their arms, raising them by degrees as they felt themselves 
sinking, and when completely submerged, their stiffened 
arms still holding them above the water. 

In the midst of this horrible disorder, the artillery 
bridge gave way and broke down. The column entangled 
in this narrow passage in vain attempted to retrograde. 
The crowds which were following behind, ignorant of the 
calamity, and not hearing the cries of those before them, 
kept urging them on until they pushed them into the gulf, 
into which they in their turn were precipitated. 

Every one then attempted to pass by the other bridge. 
A great number of large ammunition wagons, heavy car- 
riages and cannon crowded to it from all parts. Pressed 
on by their drivers and carried rapidly along over a rough 
and unequalled declivity, in the midst of masses of men, 
they ground to pieces the poor wretches who were un- 
fortunate enough to get between them, until at length 
the greater part, furiously encountering each other, were 
overturned, killing in their fall those who were around 
them. Multitudes pressed against these obstacles, and 
becoming entangled among them, were thrown down, and 
crushed to pieces by other multitudes as they successively 
stumbled upon them. 

Thus these miserable creatures were rolling one upon 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 28/ 

the other, nd nothing was heard but cries of rage and 
of anguish. In this frightful confusion, those who were 
trodden and crushed under the feet of their companions, 
struggHng to lay hold of them with their nails and teeth, 
were, like so many enemies, trampled upon without mercy. 

Among them were wives and mothers, calling in tones 
of distraction upon their husbands and their children, from 
whom they had been separated but a moment before, never 
again to be united. Stretching out their arms, they en- 
treated to be allowed to pass in order to rejoin them : but 
they were hurried backward and forward with the crowd, 
until at length, overcome by the pressure, they sank with- 
out being so much as noticed. Amid the howling of a 
violent tempest, the discharge of cannon, the whistling 
of balls, the explosion of shells, vociferations, groans, and 
frightful oaths, this infuriated crowd heard not the cries of 
the victims it was swallowing up. 

The more fortunate gained the bridge by scrambling 
over heaps of wounded, of women and children thrown 
down and half suffocated, whom they again trampled be- 
neath their feet in their attempts to reach it. When at 
last they reached the narrow defile, they fancied that they 
were safe ; but the fall of a horse, or the breaking or dis- 
placing of a plank, again arrested everything. 

There was also at the outlet of the bridge, on the other 
side, a morass, into which many horses and carriages had 
sunk, a circumstance which greatly embarrassed and re- 
tarded the entrance. Then it was that, in that infuri- 
ated column, crowded together on a single plank of safety, 
there arose a terrible struggle, in which the weakest least 
fortunately situated were plunged into the river by their 
more powerful or more successful comrades. The latter. 



288 NAPOLEON'S 

without SO much as turning their heads, and hurried along 
by the instinct of self-preservation, pushed on towards the 
goal with unabated fury, regardless of the imprecations of 
rage and despair uttered by their companions or officers 
whom they had thus sacrificed. 

But, on the other hand, how many noble instances there 
were of devotion ! and why are time and space denied me 
to relate them ? Soldiers, and even officers, harnessed 
themselves to sledges, to snatch from that fatal bank their 
sick or wounded comrades. Farther off, and out of reach 
of the crowd, were seen soldiers, motionless and watching 
over their dying commanders, who had confided themselves 
to their care : in vain did the latter conjure them to think 
only of their own preservation ; they refused ; and sooner 
than abandon their expiring leaders, resolved to take their 
chance of slavery or death. 

Above the first passage, where young Lauriston had 
thrown himself into the river, in order more promptly to 
execute the orders of Napoleon, a little boat, carrying a 
mother and her two children, was upset and sank under 
the ice : an artilleryman, who, like the others, was strug- 
gling on the bridge to open a passage for himself, observed 
the accident, and all at once, unmindful of his own life, he 
threw himself into the river, and by great exertion suc- 
ceeded in saving one of the three victims. It was the 
youngest of the two children : the poor little thing kept 
calling for his mother in tones of despair, when the brave 
artilleryman was heard telling him " not to cry ; that he 
had not rescued him from the water only to desert him on 
the bank ; that he should want for nothing ; and that he 
would be his father and his family." 

The niffht of the 28th added to all these calamities. Its 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 289 

darkness was insufficient to conceal from the artillery of 
the Russians its miserable victims. Amid the snow, which 
covered everything, the course of the river, the black mass 
of men, horses, and carriages, and the noise proceeding 
from them, were enough to enable the enemy's artillery- 
men unerringly to direct their fire. 

At about nine o'clock in the evening their desolation 
became complete, when Victor commencing his retreat, 
his divisions opened for themselves a passage through these 
despairing wretches, whom they had till then been protect- 
ing. A rear guard, however, having been left, the multi- 
tude, benumbed with cold, or still anxious to preserve their 
baggage, refused to avail themselves of the last night for 
crossing to the opposite shore. In vain were their wagons 
set fire to, in order to tear them from them ; it was only 
the appearance of daylight which brought them again, 
but too late, to the entrance of the bridge, which they 
once more besieged. At half past eight in the morning, 
seeing the Russians approaching. General Eble set fire to 
it by Napoleon's orders ; then those who were left on the 
eastern side of the river " realized that they had lost their 
last chance." 

A multitude of wagons and of cannon, several thousand 
men and women, and some children, were thus abandoned 
on the hostile bank. They were seen wandering in deso- 
late troops on the borders of the river. Some plunged 
into it in order to swim across ; others ventured them- 
selves on the pieces of ice which were floating along ; and 
some there were who threw themselves headlong upon the 
timbers of the burning bridge, which, sinking under them, 
exposed them at the same time to the horrors of a twofold 
death. Shortly after, the bodies of many of these unfort- 



290 NAPOLEON'S 

unate creatures, wedged in the ice, were seen collecting 
against the trestles of the bridge. The rest awaited the 
Russians. The Russian general did not show himself 
upon the heights until an hour after Eble's departure ; 
and without having gained a victory, he reaped all the 
fruits of one. 

Napoleon remained till the last moment on these melan- 
choly banks, near the ruins of Brilowa, unsheltered and at 
the head of his guard, one-third of which was destroyed by 
the storm. During the day they stood to their arms, and 
were drawn up in order of battle ; at night they bivouacked 
in a square round their leader ; and there the old grena- 
diers incessantly kept feeding their fires. They sat on 
their knapsacks, with their elbows planted upon their 
knees, and their hands supporting their heads ; slumbering 
in this manner, doubled upon themselves, that one limb 
might warm the other, and that they might feel less the 
emptiness of their stomachs. 

About these bivouacs were collected men of all classes, 
of all ranks, of all ages ; ministers, generals, administrators. 
Among them was remarked an elderly nobleman of by- 
gone days, when light and brilliant graces held sovereign 
sway. This general officer of sixty was seen sitting on the 
snow-covered trunk of some tree, occupying himself with 
unruffled gayety every morning in adjusting the details of 
his toilet : in the midst of a hurricane he had his hair ele- 
gantly dressed, and powdered with the nicest care, amus- 
ing himself in this manner with all our calamities, and with 
the fury of the elements which assailed him. 

Near him were officers of scientific corps, still finding 
subjects for discussion. Imbued with the spirit of an age 
which a few discoveries have encouraged to hope for ex- 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 29 1 

planations of everything, these individuals, amid the acute 
sufferings we were enduring from the north wind, were 
seeking to divine the cause of its unvarying direction. 
The theory was advanced that, since his departure for the 
antarctic pole, the sun, by heating the southern hemisphere, 
had rarefied all its currents of air, elevated them, and left 
on the surface of that zone a vacuum, into which the cur- 
rents of air of ours, which were lower on account of being 
more dense, were violently rushing. That thus the north- 
ern pole, loaded with these denser vapors, which had been 
collecting and cooling since the preceding summer, was 
discharging them by an impetuous and icy current, which 
swept over the Russian territory, and stiffened or destroyed 
everything it encountered in its course. 

Others of these officers were remarking with curious 
attention the regular six-sided crystallization of each one 
of the flakes of snow which covered their garments. 

The phenomena of the simultaneous appearance of sev- 
eral distinct images of the sun, reflected to the eye by 
means of the icy particles suspended in the atmosphere, 
was also a subject for observation, and several times 
momentarily diverted their thoughts from their sufferings. 



§ 22. Napoleon abandons the Grand Army and sets out for 

Paris. 

On the 29th the emperor quitted the banks of the Bere- 
zina, pushing on before him the crowd of disbanded sol- 
diers, and marching with the ninth corps, which was 
already disorganized. The day before, the second and 
ninth corps and Dombrowski's division presented a total 
of fourteen thousand men ; and now, with the exception of 



292 NAPOLEON'S 

about six thousand, they had no longer any form of divis- 
ion, brigade, or regiment. 

Night, hunger, cold, the fall of many of their officers, 
the loss of the baggage on the other side of the river, the 
example of such a number of runaways, and the much 
more revolting sight of the wounded abandoned on both 
sides of the river, and left weltering in despair on the 
snow, which was dyed with their blood : everything, in 
short, contributed to discourage them ; and they were now 
confounded with the mass of disbanded men who had 
come from Moscow, 

The whole still formed sixty thousand men, but without 
the least order or unity. All marched pell-mell, cavalry, 
infantry, artillery, French and Germans : there was no 
longer either wing or centre. The artillery and carriages 
drove on through this tumultuous crowd with no other 
instructions than to proceed as rapidly as possible. 

On the 3d of December Napoleon arrived in the morn- 
ing at Malodeczno,^ which was the last point where the 
Russian general, Tchitchakoff was likely to get the start 
of him. Some provisions were found there, the forage 
was abundant, the day beautiful, the sun bright, and the 
cold bearable. There also the couriers, who had been 
so long kept back, arrived all at once. The Poles were 
immediately directed onward to Warsaw through Olita, 
and the dismounted cavalry by Merecz to the Niemen ; 
while the rest of the army was to follow the high road, 
which they had again regained. 

Up to that time Napoleon seemed to have entertained 
no idea of quitting his army. But about the middle of 
that day he suddenly informed Daru and Duroc of his 
determination to set off immediately for Paris. 

^ Malodeczno; a town about seventy miles west of the Berezina River. 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 293 

Daru did not see the necessity of it. He objected "that 
the communication with France was again opened, and the 
most dangerous crisis passed ; and that at every retrograde 
step he would now be meeting the re-enforcements sent 
him from Paris and from Germany." The emperor's reply 
was, " that he no longer felt himself sufficiently strong to 
leave Prussia between him and France. And besides, 
what necessity was there for his remaining at the head of 
a routed army } Murat and Eugene would be sufficient to 
direct it, and Ney to cover its retreat. 

" His return to France had become indispensable, in 
order to secure her tranquillity and to summon her to arms ; 
to take measures there for keeping the Germans steady in 
their fidelity to him ; and, finally, to return with fresh and 
adequate forces to the assistance of his Grand Army. 

"But, in order to effect these objects, it was necessary 
that he should travel alone over four hundred leagues of 
the territories of his allies : and that he might do so with- 
out danger, his resolution should be there unforeseen, his 
passage unknown, and the rumor of his disastrous retreat 
still uncertain ; that he would, in short, precede the news 
of it, and anticipate the effect it might produce on them, 
and the defections to which it might give rise. He had, 
therefore, no time to lose, and the moment for his depart- 
ure had already arrived." 

Such were the motives assigned by Napoleon ; and 
General Caulaincourt immediately received orders secretly 
to prepare for his departure. The rendezvous was fixed 
at Smorgoni,! and the time the night of the 5th of 
December. 

^ Smorgoni : a village about thirty-five miles northwest of Malodeczno, 
and four hundred and fifty southwest of Moscow. 



294 NAPOLEON'S 

When Napoleon reached Smorgoni all the marshals were 
summoned. As they successively entered, he took each 
one aside in private, and first of all secured their approba- 
tion of his plan, gaining some by his arguments, and others 
by confidential communications. 

His manner was kind and flattering to them all ; and 
afterward, having assembled them at his table, he compli- 
mented them for their brilliant actions during the cam- 
paign. As to himself, the only confession he made of his 
temerity was couched in these words : " If I had been 
born to the throne, if I had been a Bourbon, it would have 
been easy for me not to have committed any faults." 

When their interview was over, he made Prince Eugene 
read to them his twenty-ninth bulletin ; after which, declar- 
ing aloud what he had confided to each of them privately, 
he told them " that he was about to depart that very night 
with Duroc, Caulaincourt and Lobau, for Paris ; that his 
presence there was indispensable for France as well as for 
the remains of his unfortunate army. It was there only 
that he could take measures for keeping the Austrians 
and Prussians in check. These nations would certainly 
pause before they declared war against him, when they 
saw him at the head of the French nation, and a fresh 
army of twelve hundred thousand men. 

He added, that "he had ordered Ney to proceed to 
Wilna, there to reorganize the army ; that Rapp would 
second him, and afterward go to Dantzic, Lauriston to 
Warsaw, and Narbonne to Berlin; that his own guard 
would remain with the army ; but that it would be neces- 
sary to strike a blow at Wilna, and stop the enemy there. 
There they would find re-enforcements, provisions, and 
ammunition of all sorts ; that afterward they would go into 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 295 

winter quarters on the other side of the Niemen ; and that 
he hoped the Russians would not pass the Vistula before 
his return." 

He said, in concluding, " I leave the King of Naples to 
command the army. I hope that you will yield him the 
same obedience that you would to myself, and that the 
greatest harmony will prevail among you." 

As it was now ten o'clock at night, he rose, affec- 
tionately pressed their hands, embraced them all — and 
departed. 

Napoleon passed through the crowd of his officers, who 
were drawn up in an avenue as he passed, bidding them 
adieu merely by forced and melancholy smiles : their good 
wishes, equally silent, and expressed only by respectful 
gestures, he carried with him. He and Caulaincourt shut 
themselves up in a carriage. 

His escort at first consisted only of Poles, afterwards of 
the Neapolitans of the Royal Guard. This corps consisted 
of between six and seven hundred men when it left Wilna 
to meet the emperor : it perished almost entirely in that 
short passage, though the winter was its only adversary. 
That very night the Russians surprised and afterward 
abandoned a town through which the escort had to pass ; 
and Napoleon was within an hour of falling into that 
affray. 

He met the Duke of Bassano at Miedniki, a village 
about thirty miles west of Smorgoni. His first words to 
him were '* that he had no longer an army; that for several 
days past he had been marching in the midst of a troop 
of disbanded men, wandering to and fro in search of sub- 
sistence ; that they might still be rallied by giving them 
bread, shoes, clothing, and arms ; but that the duke's mili- 



296 NAPOLEON'S 

tary administration had anticipated nothing, and his orders 
had not been executed." But upon Maret replying, by 
showing him a statement of the immense stores of provis- 
ions and clothing collected at Wilna, he exclaimed " that 
he gave him fresh life ; that he would forthwith give him 
an order to transmit to Murat and Berthier, to halt for 
eight days in that capital, there to rally the army, and 
infuse into it sufficient heart and strength to continue the 
retreat less deplorably." 

The remainder of Napoleon's journey was effected with- 
out molestation. He went round Wilna by its suburbs, 
crossed Wilkoski, where he exchanged his carriage for a 
sleigh, and stopped during the loth at Warsaw, to ask 
the Poles for a levy of ten thousand Cossacks, and to 
promise them that he would speedily return at the head 
of three hundred thousand men. From thence he rapidly 
traversed Silesia,^ visited Dresden and its monarch, and 
finally reached Paris, where he suddenly made his appear- 
ance on the 19th of December, two days after the arrival 
of his twenty-ninth bulletin. 

From Malo-jaroslavetz to Smorgoni, this master of Eu- 
rope had been no more than the general of a dying and 
disbanded army ; from Smorgoni to the Rhine he was an 
unknown fugitive, travelling through a hostile country ; 
beyond the Rhine he again found himself the master and 
the conqueror of Europe. A brief blast of the gale of 
prosperity once more and for the last time swelled his 
sails. 

Meanwhile, his generals, whom he left at Smorgoni, 
approved of his departure, and, far from being discouraged, 
placed all their hopes in it. The army had now only to 

1 Silesia : a province of southeastern Prussia. 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 297 

flee ; the road was open, and the Russian frontier at a very 
short distance. They were getting within reach of a re- 
enforcement of eighteen thousand men, all fresh troops, 
of a great city, and immense magazines. Murat and Ber- 
thier, abandoned to themselves, fancied they were quite 
competent to direct the flight. But in the midst of such 
frightful disorder, it required a Napoleon for a rallying- 
point, and he had just disappeared. In the mighty chasm 
which he left, Murat was scarcely perceptible. 

It was then but too clearly seen that a great man is not 
to be replaced ; either that the pride of his followers can 
no longer stoop to obey another, or that, having always 
thought of, foreseen, and ordered everything himself, he 
had formed good instruments, skilful lieutenants, but no 
commanders. 

The very first night a general refused to obey. The mar- 
shal who commanded the rear guard was almost the only 
one who returned to the royal head-quarters. Three thou- 
sand men of the Old and the Young Guard were still there. 
This was the whole of the Grand Army, and of that gigan- 
tic body there remained nothing but the head. But at 
the news of Napoleon's departure, these veterans, spoiled 
by the habit of being commanded only by the conqueror 
of Europe, being no longer supported by the honor of 
serving him, and scorning to act as guards to another, 
gave way in their turn, and voluntarily fell into disorder. 

Henceforward there was no longer fraternity in arms ; 
there was an end to all society, to all ties ; the excess of 
misery had completely brutified them. Hunger, devouring 
hunger, had reduced these unfortunate men to that brutal 
instinct of self-preservation which constitutes the sole 
understanding of ferocious animals, and which is ready to 



298 NAPOLEON'S 

sacrifice everything to itself ; nature, wild and barbarous 
around them, seemed to have communicated to them all its 
savageness. The strongest despoiled the weakest ; they 
rushed about the dying, and frequently waited not for 
their last breath. When a horse fell, you might have 
fancied you saw a famished pack of hounds : they sur- 
rounded him, they tore him to pieces, and quarrelled 
among themselves for his remains like ravenous dogs. 

The greater number, however, preserved sufficient moral 
strength to provide for their own safety without injuring 
others ; but this was the last effort of their virtue. If 
either leader or comrade fell by their side or under the 
wheels of the cannon, in vain did they call for assistance, 
in vain did they invoke the names of a common country, 
a common religion, and a common cause ; they could not 
even obtain a passing look. The merciless cold of the 
climate had passed into their comrades' hearts : its rigor 
had contracted their feelings no less than their features. 
With the exception of a few of the commanders, all were 
absorbed by their sufferings, and terror left no room for 
compassion. 

There were a few, however, who still stood firm, as it 
were, against both heaven and earth : these protected and 
assisted the weakest ; but their number was deplorably 
small. 

§ 23. Sufferings of the Grand Army after Napoleon's 
departure. Arrival at Wilna. 

On the 6th of December, the very day after Napoleon's 
departure, the sky exhibited a more dreadful appearance. 
Icy particles were seen floating in the air, and the birds 
fell stiff and frozen to the earth. The atmosphere was 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 299 

motionless and silent : it seemed as if everything in nature 
which possessed life and movement, even the wind itself, 
had been seized, chained, and, as it were, congealed by a 
universal death. Not a word or a murmur was then heard : 
there was nothing but the gloomy silence of despair, and 
the tears which proclaimed it. 

We crept along in the midst of this empire of death 
like doomed spirits. The dull and monotonous sound of 
our steps, the cracking of the frost, and the feeble groans 
of the dying, were the only interruptions to this doleful 
and universal silence. Anger and imprecations there were 
none, nor anything which indicated a remnant of warmth; 
scarcely was strength enough left to utter a prayer ; and 
most of the men fell without even complaining, either from 
weakness or resignation, or because people complain only 
when they look for kindness, and fancy they are pitied. 

Such of our soldiers as had hitherto been the most per- 
severing here lost heart entirely. Sometimes the snow 
sank beneath their feet, but more frequently, its glassy 
surface refusing them support, they slipped at every step, 
and tottered along from one fall to another. It seemed as 
though this hostile soil were leagued against them ; that it 
treacherously escaped from under their efforts ; that it 
was constantly leading them into snares, as if to embarrass 
and retard their march, and to deliver them up to the 
Russians in pursuit of them, or to their terrible climate. 

And, in truth, whenever, for a moment, they halted from 
exhaustion, the winter, laying his icy hand upon them, was 
ready to seize his victims. In vain did these unhappy crea- 
tures, feeling themselves benumbed, raise themselves up, 
and, already deprived of the power of speech, and plunged 
into a stupor, proceed a few steps like automatons : their 



300 NAPOLEON'S 

blood froze in their veins, like water in the current of rivu- 
lets, congealing the heart, and then flying back to the head ; 
and these dying men staggered as if they had been intoxi- 
cated. From their eyes, reddened and inflamed by the 
constant glare of the snow, by the want of sleep, and the 
smoke of the bivouacs, there flowed real tears of blood ; 
their bosoms heaved with deep and heavy sighs ; they 
looked towards heaven, at us, and on the earth, with an 
eye dismayed, fixed, and wild, as expressive of their fare- 
well, and, it might be, of their reproaches against the bar- 
barous nature which was tormenting them. It was not 
long before they fell upon their knees, and then upon their 
hands ; their heads still slowly moved for a few minutes 
alternately to the right and left, and from their open 
mouths some sounds of agony escaped ; at last, they fell 
flat upon the snow, burying their faces in it, and their 
sufferings were at an end. 

Their comrades passed by them without moving a step 
out of their way, that they might not, by the slightest 
curve, prolong their journey, and without even turning 
their heads ; for their beards and hair were so stiffened 
with ice that every movement was painful. Nor did they 
even pity them ; for, in fact, what had they lost by^ dying } 
what had they left behind them } They suffered so much, 
they were still so far from France, so much divested of all 
feelings of country by the surrounding prospect and by 
misery, that every dear illusion was broken, and hope 
almost destroyed. The greater number, therefore, had 
from necessity, from the habit of seeing death constantly 
around them, and from the prevailing feeling, become care- 
less of dying, sometimes treating it with contempt ; but 
generally, on seeing these unfortunates stretched on the 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 301 

snow, and instantly stiffened, contenting themselves with 
the thought that they had no more wants, that they were 
at rest, that their sufferings were over. And, indeed, 
death, in a situation quiet, certain, and uniform, may be 
felt as a strange event, a frightful contrast, a terrible 
change ; but in this tumult, this violent and ceaseless 
movement of a life of action, danger, and suffering, it 
appeared nothing more than a transition, a slight altera- 
tion, an additional removal, which excited little alarm. 

Such were the last days of the Grand Army : its last 
nights were still more frightful. Those whom they sur- 
prised marching together, far from every habitation, halted 
on the borders of the woods : there they hghted their 
fires, before which they remained the whole night, erect 
and motionless like spectres. They seemed as if they 
could not possibly have enough of the heat : they kept 
so close to it as to burn their clothes, as well as the 
frozen parts of their body, which the fire decomposed. 
The most dreadful pain then compelled them to stretch 
themselves on the ground, and the next day they attempted 
in vain to rise. 

In the meantime, such as the winter had almost wholly 
spared, and who still retained some portion of courage, pre- 
pared their melancholy meal. It had consisted, ever since 
they left Smolensk, of some slices of horse-flesh broiled,* 
and a little rye-meal made into a sort of gruel with snow- 
water, or kneaded into paste, which they seasoned, for 
want of salt, with the powder of their cartridges. 

The sight of these fires was constantly attracting fresh 
spectres, who were driven back by the first comers. These 
poor wretches wandered about from one bivouac to another, 
until, struck by the frost and despair together, and giving 



302 NAPOLEON'S 

themselves up for lost, they laid themselves down upon 
the snow behind their more fortunate comrades, and there 
expired. Many of them, destitute of the means and the 
strength necessary to cut down the lofty fir-trees, made 
vain attempts to set fire to them as they were standing ; 
but death speedily surprised them, and they might be seen 
in every sojt of attitude, stiff and lifeless about their trunks. 

Under the vast sheds erected by the sides of the high 
road in some parts of the way, scenes of still greater 
horror were witnessed. Officers and soldiers all rushed 
precipitately into them, and crowded together in heaps. 
There, like so many cattle, they pressed upon each other 
around the fires, and as the living could not remove the 
dead from the circle, they laid themselves down upon them, 
there to expire in their turn, and serve as a bed of death 
to some fresh victims. In a short time additional crowds 
of stragglers presented themselves, and, being unable to 
penetrate into these asylums of suffering, they completely 
besieged them. 

It frequently happened that they demolished their walls, 
which were formed of dry wood, in order to feed their 
fires : at other times, repulsed and disheartened, they were 
contented to use them as shelters to their bivouacs, the 
flames of which very soon communicated to the buildings, 
and the soldiers who were within them, already half dead 
with the cold, perished in the conflagration. Such of us 
as survived in these places of shelter found our comrades 
the next morning lying frozen and in heaps around their 
extinguished fires ; while to escape from these tombs effort 
was required to enable us to climb over the heaps of those 
who were still breathing. 

Yet this was the same army which had been formed 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 303 

fi om the most civilized nation of Europe : that army, 
formerly so brilliant, which was victorious over men to 
its last moment, and whose name still reigned in so many 
conquered capitals. Its strongest and bravest warriors, 
who had recently been proudly traversing so many scenes 
of their victories, had lost their noble bearing : covered 
with rags, their feet naked and torn, and supporting them- 
selves with branches of fir, they dragged themselves pain- 
fully along ; and the strength and perseverance which they 
had hitherto put forth in order to conquer, they now made 
use of only to flee. 

The army was in this last state of physical and moral 
distress when its first fugitives reached Wilna. Wilna ! 
their magazine, their centre of supplies, the first rich and 
inhabited city which they had met with since their en- 
trance into Russia. Its name alone, and its proximity, 
still supported the courage of a few. 

On the 9th of December, the greatest part of these 
poor soldiers at last arrived within sight of that capital. 
Instantly, some dragging themselves along, others rushing 
forward, they all precipitated themselves headlong into its? 
suburbs, hurrying obstinately on, and crowding together 
so fast that they formed but one mass of men, horses, and 
chariots, motionless, and deprived of the power of motion. 

The capital of Lithuania was still ignorant of our 
disasters, when, all at once, forty thousand famished 
soldiers filled it with groans and lamentations. At this 
unlooked-for sight, its inhabitants became alarmed and 
shut their doors. Deplorable then was it to see these 
troops of wretched wanderers in the streets, some furious 
and others despairing, threatening or entreating, endeav- 
oring to break open the doors of the houses and the maga- 



304 NAPOLEON'S 

zines, or dragging themselves to the hospitals. Everywhere 
they were repulsed : at the magazines, from most unseason- 
able formalities, as, from the dissolution of the corps and 
the mingling of the soldiers, all regular distribution had 
become impossible. 

There had been collected there sufficient flour and bread 
to last for forty days, and butchers' meat for thirty-six 
days, for one hundred thousand men. Not a single com- 
mander ventured to step forward and give orders for giv- 
ing out these provisions to all who came for them. The 
commissaries who had them in charge were afraid of being 
made responsible for them ; and the others dreaded the 
excesses to which the famished soldiers would give them- 
selves up when everything was at their discretion. These 
commissaries were, besides, ignorant of our desperate situa- 
tion ; and when there was scarcely time for pillage, had 
they been so inclined, our unfortunate comrades were left 
for several hours to die of hunger at the very doors of 
these immense magazines, filled with whatever they stood 
in need of, all of which fell into the enemy's hands the 
following day. 

At last, the exertions of several of the commanders, as 
Eugene and Davoust, the compassion of the Lithuanians, 
and the avarice of the Jews, opened some places of refuge. 
Nothing could be more remarkable than the astonishment 
manifested by these unfortunate men at finding themselves 
once more in inhabited houses. How delicious did a loaf 
of leavened bread appear to them, and how inexpressible 
the pleasure of eating it seated ! and, afterward, with what 
admiration were they struck at seeing a scanty battalion 
still under arms, in regular order, and uniformly dressed ! 
They seemed to have returned from the very extremities 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 305 

of the earth, so much had the violence and persistency of 
their sufferings wrested and torn them from all their 
habits, so deep had been the abyss from which they had 
escaped ! 

But scarcely had they begun to taste these sweets, when 
the cannon of the Russians were heard thundering: over 
their heads and upon the city. These menacing sounds, 
the shouts of the officers, the drums beating to arms, and 
the wailings and clamor of an additional multitude of 
fugitives which had just arrived, filled Wilna with fresh 
confusion. 

Every one thought much more of disputing his life with 
famine and the cold than with the enemy. But when the 
cry of " Here are the Cossacks " was heard (which for a 
long time had been the only signal which the greater num- 
ber obeyed), it was instantly echoed through the whole 
city, and the rout again began. 

This city contained a large proportion of the baggage of 
the army, and of its treasures, its provisions, a crowd of 
enormous wagons, loaded with the emperor's equipage, a 
large quantity of artillery, and a large number of wounded 
men. Our retreat had come upon them like an unexpected 
tempest, almost like a thunderbolt. Some were terrified 
and thrown into confusion, while consternation kept others 
motionless. Bearers of orders, soldiers, horses, and car- 
riages, were seen hurrying about in all directions, crossing 
and overturning each other. 

In the midst of this tumult, several of the commanders 
pushed forward out of the city towards Kowno, with all 
the troops they could contrive to muster; but at the dis- 
tance of a league from the latter place this heavy and 
frightened column encountered the height and the ravine 
of Ponari. 



306 NAPOLEON'S 

During our conquering advance, this woody hillock had 
only appeared to our soldiers a fortunate accident of the 
ground, from which they could discover the whole plain of 
Wilna, and take a survey of their enemies. Its rough but 
sharp declivity had then scarcely been remarked. During 
a regular retreat, it would have presented an excellent 
position for turning round and stopping the enemy ; but in 
a disorderly flight, where everything which, in other cir- 
cumstances, might have been of service, became injurious ; 
where, in our precipitation and disorder, everything was 
turned against us, this hill and its defile became an insur- 
mountable obstacle, a wall of ice, against which all our 
efforts were powerless. It arrested everything, baggage, 
treasure, and wounded; and the evil was sufficiently great, 
in this long series of disasters, to form an epoch. 

Here, in fact, it was that money, honor, and all remains 
of discipline and strength were completely lost. After 
fifteen hours of fruitless effort, when the drivers and the 
soldiers of the escort saw the King of Naples and the 
whole column of fugitives passing them by the sides of 
the hill; when they heard the noise of the enemy's cannon 
and musketry coming nearer and nearer every instant, 
and saw Ney himself retreating with three thousand men ; 
when, at last, turning their eyes upon themselves, they be- 
held the hill completely covered with cannon and carriages, 
broken or overturned, and men and horses fallen to the 
ground, and expiring one upon the other — then it was 
that they gave up all idea of saving anything, and deter- 
mined only to anticipate the enemy by becoming plun- 
derers themselves. 

One of the covered wagons of treasure, which burst of 
itself, served as a signal ; every one now rushed to the 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 30/ 

Others ; they were immediately broken open, and the most 
vahiable effects taken from them. The soldiers of the 
rear guard, who were passing at the time of this disorder, 
threw away their arms to join in the plunder ; they became 
so eagerly engaged in it as neither to hear, in fact, the 
whistling of the enemy's balls, nor to pay the slightest 
attention to the bowlings of the Cossacks, who were at 
their heels. 

It is even said that the Cossacks got mixed among them 
without being observed ; that for some minutes, French 
and Tartars were confounded in the same greediness ; for- 
getting they were at war, and pillaging together the same 
treasure-wagons. Two millions of gold and silver then 
disappeared. 

But amid all these horrors there were noble acts of devo- 
tion. Those there were who abandoned everything to save 
some of the unfortunate wounded by carrying them on 
their shoulders ; while others, unable to extricate their 
half-frozen comrades from the throng, sacrificed their lives 
in defending them either against their own countrymen, or 
from the blows of their enemies. 

On the most exposed part of the hill, an ofBcer of the 
emperor. Colonel the Count de Turenne, repulsed the Cos- 
sacks, and in defiance of their cries of rage and their fire, 
he distributed before their eyes the private treasure of 
Napoleon to the guards whom he found within his reach. 
These brave men, fighting with one hand, and collecting 
the spoils of their leader with the other, succeeded in 
saving them. Long afterward, when they were out of all 
danger, each man faithfully restored what had been in- 
trusted to him. Not a single piece of money was lost. 

This catastrophe at Ponari was the more disgraceful, as 



308 NAPOLEON'S 

it might easily have been foreseen, and no less easily pre- 
vented : for the hill could have been turned by its sides. 
The property we here abandoned, however, was at least 
of some use by arresting the pursuit of the Cossacks. 
While these were busy in collecting their plunder, Ney, at 
the head of a few hundred French and Bavarians, sup- 
ported the retreat as far as Eve. As this was his last 
effort, we must not neglect to describe the close of that 
retreat which he had continued uninterruptedly, and in 
the most methodical manner, ever since he left Viazma 
on the 3d of November. 

§ 24. Conclusion. 

Finally Ney and his men arrived at Kowno, which was 
the last town of the Russian empire. On the 13th of 
December, after marching forty-six days under the most 
terrible sufferings, they once more came in sight of a 
friendly country. Instantly, without halting, or looking 
behind them, the greater part plunged into, and dispersed 
themselves in, the forests of Prussian Poland. Some there 
were, however, who, on their arrival on the friendly bank 
of the Niemen, turned round ; and there, when they cast 
a last look on that land of horrors from which they were 
escaping, and found themselves on the same spot whence, 
five months before, their countless eagles ^ had taken their 
victorious flight, tears gushed from their eyes and they 
broke out into exclamations of the most poignant sorrow. 

" This, then, was the bank which they had studded with 
their bayonets ! this the allied country which had disap- 
peared, only five months before, under the steps of their 
immense army, and which then seemed to them to be 

1 Eagles : Napoleon's colors were surmounted by the figure of an eagle. 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 309 

metamorphosed into moving hills and plains of men and 
horses ! These were the same valleys from which, under 
the rays of a brilliant sun, had poured forth the three long 
columns of dragoons and cuirassiers, resembling three 
rivers of glittering iron and brass. And now, men, arms, 
eagles, horses, the sun itself, and even this frontier river, 
which they had crossed replete with ardor and hope, had 
all disappeared. The Niemen was now only a lengthened 
line of masses of ice, arrested and chained to each other 
by the increasing severity of the winter. Instead of the 
three French bridges, brought from a distance of five 
hundred leagues, and thrown across it with such auda- 
cious promptitude, a Russian bridge alone was standing. 
Finally, in place of those innumerable warriors, of their 
four hundred thousand comrades, who had been so often 
their partners in victory, and who had dashed onward with 
so much pride and joy into the territory of Russia, they 
now saw issuing from these pale and frozen deserts only 
a thousand infantry and horsemen still under arms, nine 
cannon, and twenty thousand miserable wretches covered 
with rags, with downcast looks, hollow eyes, cadaverous 
and livid complexions, and long beards matted with frost ; 
some disputing in silence the narrow passage of the bridge, 
which, in spite of their small numbers, did not suffice for 
the eagerness of their flight ; others fleeing dispersed over 
the rough ice of the river, toiling and dragging themselves 
along from one point to another : this was the whole Grand 
Army ! and even many of these fugitives were recruits 
who had just joined it ! " 

Two kings, one prince, eight marshals, followed by 
a few officers, generals on foot, dispersed, and without 
attendants : finally, a few hundred men of the Old Guard, 



310 NAPOLEON'S 

still armed — these were the remains of the Grand Army 
— these alone represented it ! 

Or rather, I should say, it still breathed only in Marshal 
Ney ! Comrades ! allies ! enemies ! here I invoke your tes- 
timony ; let us pay the homage which is due to the mem- 
ory of an unfortunate hero : the facts alone will sufhce. 

All were flying, and Murat himself, traversing Kowno 
as he had done Wilna, first gave, and then withdrew, an 
order, to rally at Tilsit, and subsequently fixed upon 
Gumbinnen. Ney then entered Kowno, accompanied only 
by his aids-de-camp, for all besides had given way or fallen 
around him. From the time of his leaving Viazma, this 
was the fourth rear guard which had been worn out and 
disappeared in his hands. But winter and famine, far 
more than the Russians, had destroyed them. For the 
fourth time he remained alone before the enemy, and, still 
undismayed, he sought for a fifth rear guard. 

Several thousand soldiers covered the market-place and 
the neighboring streets ; but they were laid out stiff before 
the liquor-shops which they had broken open, and where 
they drank the cup of death, from which they had vainly 
hoped they were to inhale fresh life. 

Such were the only succors which Murat had left him ; 
and Ney found himself alone in Russia, with seven hun- 
dred foreign recruits. At Kowno, as it had been after the 
disasters of Viazma, of Smolensk, of the Berezina, and of 
Wilna, it was to him that the honor of our arms and all 
the peril of the last steps of our retreat were again confided. 

On the 14th, at daybreak, the Russians commenced their 
attack. One of their columns made a hasty advance from 
the Wilna road, while another crossed the Niemen on the 
ice above the town, landed on the Prussian territory, and, 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 31I 

proud of being the first to cross its frontier, marched to 
the bridge of Kowno, to close that outlet upon Ney, and 
completely cut off his retreat. 

Ney, though abandoned by all, neither gave himself up 
nor his post. After vain efforts to detain these fugitives, 
he collected their muskets, which were still loaded, became 
once more a common soldier, and, with only four others, 
kept facing thousands of the enemy. His audacity stopped 
them ; it made some of his artillerymen, too, ashamed, and 
they imitated their marshal : besides it gave time to his 
aid-de-camp and to General Gerard, to collect thirty sol- 
diers, and to Generals Ledru and Marchand to collect the 
only battalion which remained. 

But at that moment a second attack of the Russians 
commenced on the other side of the Niemen, and near the 
bridge of Kowno : it was then half past two o'clock. Ney 
sent Ledru, Marchand, and their four hundred men forward 
to retake and secure that passage. As for himself, without 
giving way, or disquieting himself farther as to what was 
passing in his rear, he kept on fighting at the head of his 
thirty men, and maintained himself until night at the 
Wilna gate. He then traversed the town and crossed 
the Niemen, constantly fighting, retreating, but never fly- 
ing, marching after all the others, supporting to the last 
moment the honor of our arms, and for the hundredth time 
during the last forty days and forty nights, putting his life 
and liberty in jeopardy to save a few more Frenchmen. 
Finally, he was the last of the Grand Army that quitted 
that fatal Russia, showing to the world how courage battles 
with ill fortune, and proving that with heroes even the 
greatest disasters turn to glory.^ 

^ Marshal Ne)', whom Napoleon called " the bravest of the brave," fought 



312 NAPOLEON'S 

General Dumas was seated in the French headquarters 
on the Prussian side of the Niemen when a man entered 
wrapped in a long cloak. His face was blackened with 
gunpowder, his hair singed with fire. "At last," said he, "I 
am here." "But who are you.''" asked General Dumas 
in astonishment. " I am the rear guard of the Grand 
Army — I am Marshal Ney. I have fired the last shot on 
the bridge of Kowno, I have thrown my musket into the 
river, and I have walked here across the forest." 

Napoleon had entered Russia with an army of over six 
hundred thousand men. Not more than eighty thousand 
recrossed the Niemen, and many of them did not live to 
reach their homes. ^ 

under the emperor in several subsequent battles. When Napoleon abdicated 
and was exiled to Elba, Ney supported the government of his successor and 
enemy, Louis XVIII. On the escape of Napoleon from Elba, in the spring 
of 1815, Ney was sent with an army against him, but instead of fighting for 
Louis XVIII. he took service under his old commander. At Waterloo he 
led the Old Guard, those men who could die but never surrender. After the 
final fall of Napoleon, Marshal Ney was tried and sentenced to be shot for 
treason to the government of Louis XVIII., whose cause he had deserted. 
Wellington tried to save his life, but in vain. If courage can expiate faults, 
then his are buried in his grave. 

1 On Napoleon's arrival in Paris he began at once to raise a fresh army. It 
has been said that it was "an army of boys," for France had lost most of her 
fighting men on the battle-field, or in Russia. In 1813 he was defeated at 
Leipsic, and obliged to retreat across the Rhine. The next year he abdicated 
and retired to Elba. 

In the spring of 181 5 he escaped from Elba, and raising an army fought 
and lost the battle of Waterloo. 

After his second abdication he was sent an exile to St. Helena, where he 
died about six years later (1821). His remains were brought to Paris in 1840, 
and interred under the dome of the Hotel des Invalides, or Soldiers' Hospital. 
Above his tomb one reads these words : " I desire that my ashes shall repose 
on the banks of the Seine, among the French people, whom I have so greatly 
loved." 



RETREAT FROM MOSCOW. 313 

Thus ended the Russian campaign. Thus did the star 
of the North triumph over that of Napoleon. 

Comrades, my task is done ; it is now for you to bear 
your testimony to the truth of the picture. Its colors will 
no doubt appear pale to your eyes and to your hearts, 
which are still full of these great recollections. But who 
does not know that an action is always more eloquent than 
its description ; and that, if great historians are produced 
by great men, the former are still more rare than the 
latter > 



INDEX TO NOTES. 

WITH PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES.i 



A-chae'ans, 37. 

A-cha'i-a. 

Ad-ra-myt'ti-um. 

^-ne'as. 

y^'2-ni-a'nes. 

A-ga'si-as. 

A-ges-i-la'us. 

A'gi-as. 

Aid-de-camp, 217. 

Ajaccio (A-yat'cho). 

Alexander the Great, 149. 

Al-ki-bi'a-des. 

Altar, 75. 

Amnesty, 13. 

Am-phip'o-lis. 

A-nab'a-sis, 150. 

An-ax-ib'i-us. 

An-tal'ki-das. 

An-tan'drus. 

An-til'e-on. 

Ap-ol-lon'i-des. 

Arcadian, 27. 

A-ri-se'us. 

Ar-is-tar'chus. 

A-ris'te-as. 

A-ris'ton. 

Ar-is-ton'y-mus. 



Ar'me-ne. 

Ai'mis-tice, 21 1. 

Array, 7. 

Ar'te-mis. 

Ar-te-niis-i'on, 146. 

Ar-tax-erx'es. 

A-si'da-tes. 

A-tar'neus. 

Athenian catastrophe, 38. 

Augerau (Ozh-ro'). 

Augury, 57. 

Banished, 145. 
Barbarians, 14. 
Barras (Bar-rah') 
Bas'i-as. 

Beauharnais (Bo-ar-na') . 
Beranger (Ba-ron-zha'). 
Berthier (Ber-te-a'). 
Bessieres (Bes-se-air'). 
Billeted, 132. 
Bi-san'the. 
Bi-thyn'i-a. 
Bi'ton. 

Bitumen (Be-tu'men), 15. 
Bivouac (Biv'wak), 60, 
187. 



Boe-o'ti-a. 

Boeotian dialect, 31. 
Bo-is'kus. 
Bo're-as, 62. 
Borizoff, 271. 
Borodino, 242. 
Bo-rys'the-nes. 
Bos'pho-rus. 
Boulogne (Boo-lon'). 
Boyars, 179. 
Bras'i-das. 
Bras-i-di'as. 
Brienne (Bri-en'). 
Burial, 56. 
By-zan'ti-uni, 80, 116. 

Carbines, 43. 
Car-pse'an dance, 103. 
Cashier, 31. 
Caulaincourt (Ko-lan- 

koor'). 
Chal-ke'don. 
Chal'y-bes. 
Char-mi'nus. 
Charpontier (Shar-pon- 

ti-a'). 
Cheir-is'o-phus. 



1 In the classical names ch has the sound of k, e.g. Achaia (A-ka i-a) ; the diphthong <s 
has the sound of long e, e.g. iEneas (E-ne'as), Ksenae (Ke'ne) ; es at the end of a word has 
the sound of eez, e.g. ApoUonides (Ap-ol-16n'i-deez) ; ti'm Boeotia has the sound of she, e.g. 
(Be-o'she-ah). The Russian names may be pronounced as English. 



3i6 



INDEX TO NOTES. 



Cher-so-ne'sus, 119. 

Chry-sop'o-lis. 

Cities, 113. 

Claparede (Clap-ar-aid'). 

Compans (Con-pan' J. 

Convention, 12. 

Corn, 9. 

Corselet, 52. 

CoS'sacks, 171. 

Covenant, li. 

Cubit, 52. 

Cuirass, 48. 

Cy-re'ian Greeks, 10. 

Cy-re'ian Persians, 13. 

Czar, 160. 

Dance, Carpasan, 103. 
Dance, Pyrrhic, 104. 
Dar'da-niis. 
Dar'ic, 71. 
Da-ri'us. 
Daru', 179. 
Davoust (Da-voo'). 
De-in'ar-clius. 
Dek-e-li'a. 
Delta, 125. 
Delzons (Del-zon'). 
Demagogues, 66. 
Dem-a-ra'tus. 
Democrat and Philoso- 
pher, 29. 
De-mok'ra-tes. 
Deployed, 265. 
Der-kyl'li-das. 
Dex-ip'pus. 
Di-a'si-a, 139. 
Di-o-d5'rus. 
Dnieper (Nee 'per). 
Dombrovvna, 268. 
Dorogobouje, 254. 



Dorogomilow, 178. 

Dra-kon'ti-iis. 

Dri'lie. 

Dumas (Du-mah'). 

Duroc (Du-rok'). 

Eagles, 308. 

Ears bored, 32. 

Eble (Eb-la'). 

Eckmiihl (Ek'mil). 

Ek-bat'a-na. 

E-le'i-ans. 

Ephesus, Temple of, 143. 

E-pis'the-nes. 

E-re'tri-a. 

E-re'tri-an, 1 41. 

Erfurt, 204. 

Es-tho'ni-a. 

E-te-o-ni'kus. 

Eii-klei'des. 

Eu-ryl'o-chus. 

Eve (A-va'). 

Expresses, 205. 

Festivals, Olympic, 145. 
Fishery, Thunny, 76. 
Friedland (Freed'land). 

Gerard (Zha-rar'). 
Glfis (Gloos). 
Gods, The, 89. 
Gon'gy-liis. 
Gor'gi-on. 

Gracious, Zeus The, 139. 
Great King, The, 124. 
Greaves, 69. 
Grenadiers, 269. 
Guard, The Old, 199. 
Guilleminot (Gweel-me- 
no'). 



Gy-lip'pus. 
Gym'ni-as. 

Ha'lys. 
Har'pa-sus. 
Hek-a-ton'y-mus. 
Hellas, 89. 
Hellen'ic, 3. 
Her-a-klei'des. 
Her-ak-le'ot-ic. 
Her'a-kles, 74. 
Herald, 7. 
Heralds, 2. 
He-rod'o-tus. 

Inflated skins, 19. 
Invalides (An-val-eed'), 

214. 
I-o'ni-a, 21. 
Irrigation, 9. 

Javelin, 43. 

Jomini (Zho-me-ne'). 

Judges, 67. 

Kse'nse. 

Ka-i'kus. 

Kal'pe. 

Kal-lim'a-chus. 

Kar-du'ki-a. 

Ken-tri'tes. 

Ker'a-siis, 83. 

Ki-lik'i-a, 32. 

King, The Great, 124. 

Kle-an'der. 

Kle-a'nor. 

Kle-ar'chus. 

Kle-ar'e-tus. 

Kle-on'y-mus. 

Knidus (Ni'dus). 



INDEX TO NOTES. 



317 



Knight, 148. 

Koe-ra'ti-das. 

Kolomna gate, 173. 

Kor-o-ne'a. 

Kor'y-las. 

Ko-rys-the'ni-a. 

Ko-ty-o'ra. 

Krasnoe (Kras-no'e). 

Kretan, 56. 

Kremlin, 238. 

Ktesias (Te'si-as). 

Ku-nax'a, i. 

Kutusoff, 163. 

Ky-nis'kus. 

Kyz'i-kiis. 

Lag-e-dee'mon. 
Lag-e-dje-mo'ni-ans. 
Lamp'sa-kus. 
La-ris'sa. 
Latour-maubourg (La- 

toor'-mo-boor'). 
Lebure'. 
Ledru'. 

Lefebvre (Le-fev'vr). 
Libations, 58. 
Lithuania, 194. 
Lobau (Lo-bo'). 
Lon-ti'ni. 
Lotos-eaters, 35. 
Lyd'i-a. 
Ly'kon. 

Machiavel (Mak'i-a-vel). 

Mae-sa'des. 

Mag-ne'tes. 

Ma-kr5'-nes. 

Malodeczno, 292. 

Malo-jaro-slavetz, 233. 

Man-ti-ne'a. 



Man-ti-nei'a. 
Marchand (Mar-shon'). 
Ma-ri-an-dy'ni. 
Mar-o-nei'a. 

Marshal Ney (Nay), 311, 
Mazeppa, 178. 
Media, Wall of, 15. 
Me-dos'ar-des. 
Meg-a-by'zus. 
Meg'a-ra. 
Meg-a'rian, 76. 
Mercenaries, 75. 
Merchant ships, 80. 
Mi-le'sians, 76. 
Mi-le'tus, 24. 
Miloradovitch, 177. 
Mil-ti'a-des. 
Mil-to-ky'thes. 
Mi'naa, 99. 
Minsk, 277. 
Mith-ri-da'tes. 
Mojaisk, 241. 
Mortier (Mor-te-a'). 
Moscow, 157. 
Moskwa, 171. 
M6s-y-noe'ki. 
Munich (Mu'nik). 
Murat (Mu-rah'). 
Muscovite, 163. 
My'si-a. 
Mysian, 104. 
Mysians, 35. 

Ne'on. 

Neufchatel (Niif-shah- 

tel). 
Ney, Marshal (Nay), 

3"- 

Niemen (Nee 'men). 
Ni-kar'chus. 



Ni'ki-as. 
Ni-kom'a-chijs. 
Nineveh, 44. 

fjd'ry-sje. 
Od-rys'ian, 135. 
0-dys'seus, 80. 
Old Guard, 199. 
Olympic Festivals, 145. 
0-lym'pi-a, Temple of, 

147. 
0-neir'us, 29. 
Oph-ry-ne'um. 
O'pis. 
0-ron'tas. 
Oiidinot (Oo-de-no'). 

Pse'an, 34. 

Paphlagonian horse, 87 
Pa'ri-um. 
Partisans, 211. 
Partouneaux (Par-too- 

n5'). 
Pa-rys'a-tis. 

Pel-o-pon-ne'si-ans, 37. 
Pel-o-pon-ne'sus. 
Per'ga-miis, 140. 
Peraldi (Per-al'di). 
Pe-rin'thus. 
Per'i-kles, 39. 
Phalanx, 8. 
Pha-li'nus. 
Phar-na-ba'zus. 
Pha-si-a'ni. 
Pha'sis, 93, 
Phe'rae. 
Phi-le'si-us. 
Phil-hellen'ic, 22. 
Philo-Laco'ni-an, 113. 
Phli-a'si-an, 139. 



3i8 



INDEX TO NOTES. 



Phol'o-e. 

Phry-nis'kus. 

Phys'kus. 

Pino (Peno''). 

Pipe, 103. 

Pi-sid'i-a. 

Pisid'ians, 35. 

Pol-y-se'niis. 

Po-lyk'ra-tes. 

Pol-y-ni'kus. 

Poniatowski (Po-ni-a- 

tow'ski). 
Pontoons, 18. 
Postern-gate, 190. 
Pro^kles. 
Pro-pon'tis, 125. 
Prox'e-nus. 
Pyrrhic Dance, 104. 

Reggio (Red'jo). 
Regnier (Ra-ne-a). 
Reins, 52. 
Rhodian, 43. 
Rostopchin, 163, 164. 
Ru'ble, 162. 

Sacrifice, 2, 91. 

Sacrificed, 50. 

St. Cyr (San Seer'). 

Sam'o-las. 

Sar'dis. 

Sa'trap, 10. 

Scu-ta'ri. 

Scythians, 188. 

Segur (Sagur'). 

Se-li'nus. 



Se-lym'bri-a. 

Serfs, 160. 

Ses'a-me, 61. 

Seu'thes. 

Sikon'yan. 

Si-la'nus. 

Si-le'si-a, 296. 

Si-no'pe. 

Sit'ta-ke. 

Skil'lus. 

Skins, Inflated, 19. 

Sky-thi'ni. 

Smorgoni, 293. 

Sneeze, 34. 

Sok'ra-tes, 143. 

So-phsen'e-tiis. 

Sophists, 40. 

So-ter'i-das. 

Stat'ers, 107. 

Strelitzes, 190. 

Strike our tents, 14. 

Sy-ko'ni-ans. 

Talent, 7. 
Ta'o-chi. 
Targeteers, 83. 
Tchitchakoff (Chich'a- 

kof). 
Te-leb'o-as. 

Temple of Ephesus, 143. 
Temple of Olympia, 147. 
The'be. 
The'ches. 
Ther-mo'don. 
Tho'rax. 
Thra'ki-on, 123. 



Thunny fishery, 76. 
Thu-ri'an, 79. 
Ti-a'ra, 21. 
Tib-a-re'ni. 
Til'sit, 204. 
Ti-ma'si-on. 
Ti-me-sil-a'us. 
Tim-e-sith'e-iis. 
Tir-i-ba'zus. 
Tis-sa-pher'nes. 
Tra-pe zus. 
Traverse, 90. 
Tribute; 13. 
Tri-phyl'i-a. 
Tri'reme, 105. 
Tro'ad, 140. 
Tuileries (Tweel're). 
Turrets, 84. 
Twer (Wer). 

Ve-re'i-a, 238. 
Viazma, 243. 
Viceroy, 229. 

Wall of Media, 15. 
War, The, 39. 
Witepsk, 194. 
Wittgenstein, 237. 

Xan'thi-kles. 
Xen'o-phon. 

Zab'a-tiis. 

Za-kyn'thus. 

Zeiis, 29. 

Zeiis, The Gracious, 139. 



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